ULM comes to College Station to challenge No. 22 Texas A&M

Dec 10, 2011 - 3:48 PM College Station, TX (Sports Network) - In what certainly appears to be a monumental mismatch, the 22nd-ranked Texas A&M Aggies will play host to the ULM Warhawks this evening in College Station.

ULM opened the season with six consecutive losses before finally tasting victory against Nicholls State. Unfortunately for the Warhawks, they failed to make it two in a row in the next contest, as they fell to Louisiana Tech by a 73-71 final. That tilt took place last Saturday and ULM has been idle since, so the squad figures to be well rested for tonight's affair if nothing else.

As for Texas A&M, it has ripped off five consecutive wins since its lone defeat of the season, a nine-point setback to Mississippi State on a neutral court. The 7-1 Aggies have yet to play a true road game this season and moved to 6-0 at home on Wednesday with a 64-37 romp over Sam Houston State. Texas A&M continues to prepare for the start of Big 12 Conference play, which figures to yield significant challenges almost every time out.

This game marks the first-ever meeting between ULM and Texas A&M on the hardwood.

The Warhawks will depend heavily on the duo of Fred Brown and Charles Winborne tonight as usual. Brown leads the team in scoring with 15.8 ppg on the strength of his stellar 48.8 percent shooting from three-point range, and Winborne checks in with 12.5 ppg on 47.4 percent efficiency from behind the arc. ULM is shooting 40 percent from long range as a team, yet the squad's offensive output of 63.4 ppg is clearly mediocre. It is surrendering 70.8 ppg to opponents and has clearly struggled to keep pace in the rebounding department. In the two-point loss to Louisiana Tech, ULM hit 19-of-23 free throws and earned a 40-30 rebounding advantage, but the club turned the ball over 17 times and shot a modest 40.4 percent from the field. Winborne scored 15 points in that affair, while Brown led the charge off the bench with 17 points.

A player with the last name Turner has led Texas A&M in scoring in every game this season. Ray Turner paces the club with 14.3 ppg on the strength of his staggering 68 percent field goal efficiency, and he is pulling down 6.8 rpg as well. As for Elston Turner, he checks in with 12.1 ppg, while David Loubeau rounds out the trio of double-digit scorers with 10.9 ppg. The Aggies are netting a modest 64.1 ppg as a team, but their strength comes at the defensive end of the court as they are limiting foes to 51.1 ppg on 32.9 percent shooting from the field. The fact that they were able to hold Sam Houston State to 37 points on 25 percent shooting on Wednesday speaks to the outstanding defensive play, and a 50-31 rebounding advantage certainly helped the cause in that affair. Ray Turner led the charge with 15 points and 10 rebounds.