Texas A&M is traveling to a tough place to get a little love on Valentine's Day.
The Aggies (12-12 overall and 3-9 in the Big 12) have lost four games in a row and are need of something good to happen on Tuesday when they tip off against Texas Tech.
Getting that shot in the arm appears to be more of a daunting task for the Aggies after this past weekend, when Tech ended its 11-game losing streak with a convincing 65-47 win over Oklahoma.
"We're going up there expecting to win. I want our guys to have that mentality, to expect to win and believe they can win, so this is a big game for a lot of reasons," said A&M coach Billy Kennedy. "They are coming off a big win and they are desperate for wins, like we are, so it's more their team is going to be trying to build something off the win they just had. We're going to have to play well to have a chance to win there. "
Guard Javarez Willis had a career-best 21 points and Ty Nurse dished out a career-best seven assists in leading the Red Raiders (8-16, 1-11), who played only seven men.
"We definitely needed the win. It's been a while," said Tech coach Billy Gillispie. "I'm so proud of them, and they keep on fighting and they keep on trying to get better, and they've improved dramatically and only time will tell on how it will help us moving forward. But I know it has to be a great relief and a great accomplishment for them. We've been seeing results but the only ones people care about are wins and losses. As a coach you see the process more than the end result."
The Aggies are 9-5 all-time on Valentine's Day and are 3-0 against the Red Raiders on the date, although the last time was back in 1976.
The last time the two teams met, Gillispie was shown some love by the Aggie fans who watched him build the A&M program from a Big 12 doormat to a Sweet 16 appearance in just three years.
Gillispie received a warm welcome back before the game and then A&M ended a three-game losing streak with a 67-54 victory over Texas Tech.
Tech turned the ball over 23 times in the game, a trend that continued until the win over Oklahoma, when with a starting lineup used once previously, had seven turnovers, one in the final 20 minutes.
"They're playing three guards now and doing a better job of taking care of the ball," Kennedy said. "This is a game I wish I did have Dash [Harris], more so than maybe some of the other [games]. Dash was a big key to why we beat Texas Tech here. Defensively, he did a great job of getting them out of offense. They turned the ball over a bunch."
Harris, who has missed the past five games with an injured foot, is not expected to play on Tuesday.
Kennedy went with a new starting lineup against Iowa State, with guard Jordan Green starting in place of Keith Davis.
"We'll probably make a change [in the lineup]," Kennedy said. "We'll probably try to match up with them on the perimeter a little bit better. Willis is playing extremely well. Ty Nurse is a talent that can score points for them, but their guard play is a little bit different than Iowa State's."
In the last meeting, A&M shut out both Willis and Nurse, who played a combined 41 minutes. Freshman forward Jaye Crockett had 19 points.
"I've seen us improve in so many areas over the course of the season while not winning conference games, and I respect our guys even more because of it," Gillispie said. "Not too many people in life, when things don't start out how you want, just keep on fighting hard and stick with it and are persistent and have tenacity and have all the things that bode well for the future of the program. We knew what we signed up for, players knew the challenge and [they're] doing everything right other than just winning games in conference."
NOTES -- Khris Middleton's knee held up well after his first game in three weeks and he is expected to go on Tuesday. Dash Harris will not play, according to Kennedy, until at least Saturday, when the Aggies host No. 3 Missouri. ... The last time Kennedy was at Texas Tech was when he was an assistant for the Aggies in 1991. "They played at the Cow Palace or whatever it was. It was pretty nasty so, that's all I remember. I know it's a nice place now," Kennedy said. ... Texas Tech's 11-game losing streak was the longest since the Red Raiders lost 18 straight over the 1989-90 and '90-91 seasons.
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