Murray State's hot start offers A&M men's basketball program hope

While the Texas A&M men's basketball team is struggling to get wins, Billy Kennedy's former team, Murray State, is posting nothing but, working its way into the Top 10 with an 18-0 record.

Kennedy looks at the Racers' success as a positive for the A&M program.

"It just gives me confidence that I know we're doing the right things," Kennedy said. "When you see a team that's undefeated and ranked 10th in the country, they're doing the same things we did last year. They've been groomed. They've been trained in a system over a four- or five-year period. Sometimes it takes that to get that going."

There is another key to the Racers' first-half success this season.

"They've got really good guards who can shoot, and that helps," Kennedy said.

Kennedy won the Ohio Valley Conference title in each of the last two years and had a combined record of 54-14.

*

Kennedy is still trying to find the key to unlock victories for the Aggies (10-7, 1-4) in the Big 12.

He was encouraged with the way the Aggies opened against No. 5 Missouri in their 70-51 loss Monday in Columbia, Mo. He also liked the way they fought to get back in the game after getting down 23 points.

"We're starting to establish a style of play that works for this team," Kennedy said. "We need to run when we get the opportunity to run, but we also need to run the clock and play a little bit slower. We need to run things through Khris [Middleton] and really try and get the ball inside to be effective, because we're really struggling with shooting the ball from the perimeter."

With teams having to respect Middleton's outside shot, the Aggies have a better chance of getting the ball inside.

A&M shot just 35 percent from the floor against Missouri and had only five assists on 17 baskets. A&M shot better from 3-point range at 42 percent, but Elston Turner and Middleton accounted for all five 3s.

"We're not making plays for other people, so we just have to do a better job of managing those situations," Kennedy said. "We can't play as fast as we'd like to play. We just don't have the depth, and we don't have the scoring power to do that. We have to manage every possession from the bench. It makes it difficult to be really good, but I think that's what we're going to have to do just to give ourselves a chance to win."

A&M started well by controlling the pace against the Tigers to forge a 17-14 lead.

"Dash [Harris] throws an alley-oop, goes into the lane and misses two tough shots, and then the next thing you know we are down 13," Kennedy said. "We have to do a better job of managing the game."

*

Sophomore Kourtney Roberson is at least two weeks away from returning. The 6-foot-9 forward has been out since the Dec. 22 Rice game when he suffered an ankle injury.

"He's traveling with us," Kennedy said. "He's working out on the bike with our strength coach and lifting. [But] he can't put a lot of pressure on his foot yet running on it, but he's out of the boot."

Roberson is averaging 4.6 points and 4.9 rebounds while playing 13 minutes a game.

"We look forward to getting him back," Kennedy said. "That should help give us more size around the basket to where we can score more and maybe get fouled around the basket. I think in two weeks we'll have a better feel whether he's ready or not."

*

If A&M is to improve on it's Big 12 start, it will have to get more consistent production from senior David Loubeau and junior Ray Turner. The forwards are averaging a combined 14 points in Big 12 play. The 6-foot-8 Loubeau has pulled down just 15 rebounds in five games.

"David's been hard to figure out," Kennedy said. "He had three really good looks in the first half [Monday] and just didn't make them, then in the second half he starts pressing on a couple of shots and turning the ball over when he should be kicking the ball out. Ray had some positive minutes, and we hope that he can consistently start doing that."

Turner leads the Aggies with 33 rebounds in conference play, 15 on the offensive end.

*

Next up for A&M is the Oklahoma Sooners at 3 p.m. Saturday at Reed Arena.

The Sooners finished 5-11 in the Big 12 last season but haved improved under new coach Lon Kruger and with the addition of Romero Osby (12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds per game) to a team that returned all but one starter.

"I've known Coach Kruger since he was the head coach at Pan American," Kennedy said. "He's one of the better head coaches in the country. He's coached at every level and won at every level and is doing a really good job with this team. Beating Kansas State at home the other day was a big win for them."