Texas A&M men's basketball notebook

Eagle Staff Report

Next up: The Texas A&M men's basketball team will play Iowa State at 3 p.m. Saturday at Reed Arena in the Aggies' Big 12 home opener. A&M is 9-4 overall and coming off a 61-52 loss at No. 4 Baylor on Monday night to open conference play.

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Bench help needed: Sophomore 6-foot-10 center Keith Davis scored the only two points for A&M's bench against Baylor. The Bears had sophomore forward Cory Jefferson, senior forward Anthony Jones and junior guard Pierre Jackson come off the bench to combine for 13 points.

"I was disappointed in our bench play, and I thought some guys came in and were a little timid," A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said. "I don't ever want to have a team that has anything to do with being timid.

"I know our bench is better than their performance [Monday] night."

While A&M's overall bench produced little, Davis played well. He hit his only shot, had seven rebounds and two blocks in 29 minutes, fouling only once with one turnover.

"Defensively, he did a lot of good things for us," Kennedy said.

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Better shot selection: A&M shot 28.6 percent from the field in the loss to Baylor. Senior post David Loubeau and junior forward Khris Middleton both were in early foul trouble and struggled. Middleton was 4-of-17 shooting, including 1 of 7 on 3-pointers. Loubeau was 4 of 12 from the floor.

"Our main guys have to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble and taking better shots," Kennedy said. "We have to be a lot more efficient on the offensive end to beat some of the teams we have to play the next few weeks."

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Playing smart in foul trouble: Kennedy had to play both Loubeau and Middleton in the first half with two fouls. Middleton played effectively, finishing with 14 points and three steals in 29 minutes. But Loubeau picked up his third foul in 20 seconds and headed to the bench. He allowed Jefferson to get position for a layup, then made it worse by fouling him for what became a Baylor three-point play.

"That can't happen," Kennedy said. "We played Khris with two fouls, which I usually don't like to do. As long as we could stay close I didn't want to have to play him. We've got to get our bench better, but we're down to 10 scholarship players."

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Disappearing Turner: A&M junior forward Ray Turner, who has started every game, had only two points against Baylor. He was 1-of-5 shooting with four rebounds and two turnovers in 18 minutes.

"We have to see more consistent effort from him in practice," Kennedy said. "He has the physical ability."

Turner has struggled in some of the team's bigger games. He played 14 minutes in the 69-60 loss to Mississippi State, shooting 1 of 5 with two turnovers. He played 17 minutes in the 84-64 loss to Florida with two points and two turnovers.

Turner started only one game in the previous two seasons, and Kennedy said sometimes the transition to starter is difficult, especially in bigger games.

"We have to get him out of that," Kennedy said.

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Point guard plans: A&M senior point guard Dash Harris played a season-high 37 minutes Monday as A&M adjusts to life without freshman Jamal Branch who left the team last week. Branch averaged 18.6 minutes in the first 11 games.

Junior shooting guard Elston Turner, who had a career-high 21 points against Baylor, will be the backup point guard. He had only two turnovers in 35 minutes.

Turner will have to bring the ball down court if teams are successful stopping Harris. Middleton would be A&M's next option at bringing the ball down court with the taller players as the last option. Kennedy said he's hopeful they stick with the first option as much as possible.

Kennedy said the starters can expect to play 30-33 minutes a game right now, though in a perfect system it would be 25-28.

"That's not what we're dealing with this year," he said. "They are going to have to play major minutes."

A&M is still without sophomore forward Kourtney Roberson who broke his left ankle Dec. 22. He's expected to be out 4-6 weeks, and Kennedy said six weeks is more realistic.

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Ticket specials: Veterans and active military families will receive two free tickets to A&M's game against Iowa State on Saturday. All scouts wearing their uniforms will get in free, and general admission tickets start at $5. There also will be an autograph session with the players after the game.

-- ROBERT CESSNA