COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 24 Texas A&M men's basketball team takes on the Murray State Racers at 3 p.m. on Thursday in the first round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational, which will be contested Nov. 17, 18 and 20 at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University.
The game will be televised by ESPN2. The Maroon & White will face either Colorado or UMass on Friday at a to-be-determined time.
In addition to the Aggies (SEC), the MBI field features Boise State (Mountain West), Charlotte (C-USA), Colorado (Pac-12), Loyola Chicago (Atlantic 10), UMass (Atlantic 10), Murray State (Missouri Valley) and Tulsa (American).
Thursday's matchup will be just the second meeting between Texas A&M and Murray State. In the only previous meeting, Marty Karow's Aggies dropped a hard-fought 49-46 decision to the Murray State College Thoroughbreds in Paducah, Kentucky, in 1946.
The Aggies, who were receiving votes in the preseason poll, checked in at No. 24 in the most recent edition of the Associated Press Top 25. It was the team's first AP ranking since Jan. 1, 2017 (No. 13). In the coaches poll, the Aggies were just outside the top 25 with 25 votes.
CAREER MILESTONES TO WATCH:
Tyrece "Boots" Radford needs eight points to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Henry Coleman III needs 13 rebounds to reach 300 for his career.
With 87 career games played, Andre Gordon could reach 90 by the end of the MBI. Gordon needs to play two minutes and 43 seconds to reach 2,000 minutes of action in the Maroon & White. He needs 10 rebounds to reach 200. He needs 13 steals to become the 20th member of the Aggies' 100-steal club.
The next points scored by Hayden Hefner and Manny Obaseki will be 150th of their respective careers.
Julius Marble needs five points to reach 400.
Wade Taylor IV needs nine assists to reach 100.
Javonte Brown's next rebound will be the 60th of his career.
CRASHING THE BOARDS:
Texas A&M's graduate guard tandem of Dexter Dennis and Tyrece "Boots" Radford are one of just three 6-foot-5 or shorter pairs nationally with 500-plus career rebounds. The 6-2 Radford has 567 rebounds in 92 career games, while the 6-5 Dennis has 564 boards in 114 games.
