After braving snow in Denver we arrived in Houston on-time this morning for tonight’s basketball game against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. Vegas may see this as a 20+ point defeat for the Pioneers but we see this as the upset of the month in college basketball – that is why we are called LetsGoDU!
So what is A&M going to throw at us tonight?
The game is going to be played in Reed Arena at College Station. Built in 1998, the arena holds 12,500 spectators. In recent years, Reed Arena has gained a reputation as one of the most hostile arenas in the nation, coinciding with the men’s and women’s Aggie basketball teams rise to national prominence. This is partly due to a group of students calling themselves the Reed Rowdies which have been instrumental in helping to create an energetic fan atmosphere during basketball games. And yes, school is in session. Still, we are expecting a half full arena for this non-conference tune-up.
Texas A&M sits at 5-2 (losses to USC & UCLA) with what many are calling a top 20 recruiting class. They are members of the SEC and their conference pre-season poll puts them in 3rd place with Kentucky placed in the top spot.
The sizable Aggies squad have four players averaging double figures. C 6’9″ Tyler Davis (14.6 ppg.), F 6’9″ D.J. Hogg (13.3 ppg.), G 6’4″ Admon Gilder (12.9 ppg.) and F 6’9″ Robert Williams (10.1 ppg.) round out the scoring for A&M. Gilder leads the team in assists with 35 A&M can score, averaging 75.3 ppg. with a huge 12 point scoring margin. They are hitting field goals at a 47.1% clip but the Pioneers must watch out for turnovers. The Aggies are copping 6.9 steals per game and blocking 6.3 shots per game while only committing 12 turnovers per game. The Aggies are also out-rebounding their opponents by 5.1 boards per game. The Pioneers will surely be tested by the Aggies athleticism tonight.
Tip-off is at 6:00 PM MT. We will be at world famous Dixie Chicken in College Station before the game so Pioneer fans – join us.
Have fun! I’m hoping I can watch, looks like I get the SEC Network on ESPN3, not sure if SEC+ will work though, we’ll see!
I think they are in the SEC not the big 12?
U r right…
Well, that game was pretty much exactly what we expected. Rosga continues to impress though
Have fun! I’m hoping I can watch, looks like I get the SEC Network on ESPN3, not sure if SEC+ will work though, we’ll see!
In the post-game, Billups seemed to be frustrated with the results. He believes and expected the team to play more competitively. That is a big ask for such an athletic team. The A&M crowd, while only 6,200 were very nice to Denver visitors – probably made easier with a sizable margin of victory.
I think they are in the SEC not the big 12?
U r right…
Well, that game was pretty much exactly what we expected. Rosga continues to impress though
In the post-game, Billups seemed to be frustrated with the results. He believes and expected the team to play more competitively. That is a big ask for such an athletic team. The A&M crowd, while only 6,200 were very nice to Denver visitors – probably made easier with a sizable margin of victory.
This was a great learning experience for our guys to learn the difference from our program to a P5 program with NCAA tourney ambitions.
What we learned:
– Rosga is our stud plyer. We need 6-7 more stud players to make it to the dance, and we don’t have them yet,
-We may never have SEC level talent at DU, so we must find guys and systems who can compensate in other ways
– Amigo has improved, but he’s totally overmatched by SEC level big men
-DU must shoot 45% to be competitive and higher than that against top teams
– DU needs more height up front. (no duh)
-DU needs to be resilient when big boys swat our shots. The loss of confidence DU suffered last night was palpable.
Hopefully Rosga enjoys DU as a school, otherwise he’s gone after this year. He reminds me of the Arizona guard they poached from Duquesne a few years back. Puck, 6-7 more Rosga like players and we’re a top 20 ball club. I’ll settle for 2 more like him and strong complimentary players around them.
A&M is a nice club. Their big frosh who blocks shots with ease is a future #1 pick.
Too many careless turnovers. Kids need to think at high speed.
This was a great learning experience for our guys to learn the difference from our program to a P5 program with NCAA tourney ambitions.
What we learned:
– Rosga is our stud plyer. We need 6-7 more stud players to make it to the dance, and we don’t have them yet,
-We may never have SEC level talent at DU, so we must find guys and systems who can compensate in other ways
– Amigo has improved, but he’s totally overmatched by SEC level big men
-DU must shoot 45% to be competitive and higher than that against top teams
– DU needs more height up front. (no duh)
-DU needs to be resilient when big boys swat our shots. The loss of confidence DU suffered last night was palpable.
Hopefully Rosga enjoys DU as a school, otherwise he’s gone after this year. He reminds me of the Arizona guard they poached from Duquesne a few years back. Puck, 6-7 more Rosga like players and we’re a top 20 ball club. I’ll settle for 2 more like him and strong complimentary players around them.
A&M is a nice club. Their big frosh who blocks shots with ease is a future #1 pick.
Too many careless turnovers. Kids need to think at high speed.