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Texas A&M looks to move on without Law, Gillispie

Nov 9, 2007 - 3:44 PM McNeese St (0-0) at No. 14 Texas A&M (0-0) 8:00 pm EST

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Texas A&M resurrected its basketball program recently under the direction of coach Billy Gillispie. It will try to stay on top with Mark Turgeon at the helm.

Turgeon and the 14th-ranked Aggies open the regular season by hosting McNeese State on Friday.

After leading Texas A&M to a No. 9 national ranking and the "Sweet 16" last season, Gillispie moved on to Kentucky, opening the door for Turgeon, who spent the previous seven seasons as the coach of Wichita State.

The Aggies also lost leading scorer Acie Law IV, who was drafted 11th overall in the NBA draft by Atlanta.

Forwards Josh Carter and Joseph Jones will take over as the primary scoring options for Turgeon this season. Jones, a 6-9 senior, averaged 13.4 points last season while the 6-7 Carter led the nation in 3-point accuracy last season at 50 percent en route to scoring 13.5 points.

The Cowboys went 15-17 last year and placed third in the Southland Conference with a 9-7 mark in their first season under coach Dave Simmons.

Senior forward Jarvis Bradley led McNeese State in both scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) during the season and was named to the All-Southland Conference second team.

Texas A&M has won 34 straight non-conference home games in the regular season, and is 1-1 all-time against McNeese State.