Resurgent Wildcats host No. 9 Aggies

When Arizona senior Jawann McClellan was coming of age as a teenage basketball star in Houston, few paid any attention to the Texas A&M program.

“When I was a kid, they were always lousy,” McClellan said. “They had great facilities and a terrific atmosphere, so it never made sense why they couldn’t get any of the top recruits.”

Boy, how times have changed since then.

Billy Gillispie took over the program in 2004, a year after the Aggies finished 7-21 and failed to defeat a Big 12 opponent.

Almost immediately, the football-crazed student body began to take notice of what was happening at Reed Arena.

The Aggies won 21 games in each of Gillispie’s first two seasons and finished last season ranked No. 6—the highest in school history.

Even though Gillispie left College Station, Texas to take over Kentucky’s program, former Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon has taken over and Texas A&M hasn’t missed a beat.

The Aggies (7-0) travel to Tucson today ranked No. 9 on the strength of seven consecutive wins—including double-digit victories over Ohio State and Alabama.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence and swagger right now,” said interim head coach Kevin O’Neill.

Arizona (4-2) battled the Aggies’ Big 12 foe, Kansas, to the final buzzer before falling in overtime 76-72.

Wednesday night’s game against Cal State Fullerton was perhaps the Wildcats’ strongest effort to date, clobbering the Titans 91-65 and figuring out how to eliminate the slow starts that had plagued them in their first five games.

“I was happy to see us put together a solid 40 minutes of basketball,” O’Neill said.

Chase Budinger and Jerryd Bayless carried the scoring load, yet again, tallying 38 of Arizona’s 91 points.

Both players are averaging more than 18 points per contest.

With the two youngsters shoulding the majority of the scoring burden, players like McClellan have found themselves adjusting to new roles as the season has progressed.

McClellan, who came to Tucson with a reputation as a scorer and a shooter, has evolved into the Wildcats’ best man-to-man defender and the ultimate team player.

“Jawann has a huge heart,” O’Neill said. “I really admire everything he’s doing for us. He is one of, if not the integral part of our continued success.”

The Wildcats will count on McClellan’s defense on the Aggies’ scoring leader, Josh Carter.

At 13 points per contest, the 6-foot, 7-inch Carter spearheads the Aggies’ balanced scoring attack.

However, the toughest athlete for the Wildcats’ to match up with might be Texas A&M’s 7-foot freshman, DeAndre Jordan—possibly the most athletic center in the nation.

On the season, Jordan has taken 35 shots and made 30 of them.

“You’re going to shoot a high percentage if all your shots are dunks,” O’Neill said.

However, Jordan’s perimeter skills have a long way to go before matching his phenomenal athleticism. He has only converted four of his 24 free-throw attempts for a horrendous 16.7 percent clip.

Power forward Joseph Jones provides the squad with a steadier post scoring presence. The 6-foot, 9-inch senior is averaging 11 points and five rebounds per game.

McClellan, who has played with and against most of the Texas A&M roster during his high-school days, expects a tough battle from one of the nation’s most disciplined and balanced squads.

“We know we’re going to have our hands full, but we know we’re fully capable of beating anyone on any given night,” McClellan said. “It’s going to be fun to see all these guys I grew up with, but we all know what a win against a top-10 team means. We have to look at it like it’s any other game and do what we need to do to win.”

Tipoff at McKale Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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Game details

No. 9 Texas A&M (7-0) at Arizona (4-2)

Time: 4 p.m., today.

Channel: Fox Sports Net (Cox, 26)

Radio: Wildcat Radio Network, 1290 AM, 107.5 FM