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When unbeaten Texas A&M rolled into McKale Center a year ago, both the Aggies and the Arizona Wildcats experienced the first of two watershed moments.

The ninth-ranked Aggies discovered they, indeed, did have a few weaknesses, going 8-8 in the Big 12. Then they finished strong with good postseason efforts against Kansas and UCLA.

The Wildcats, in what proved to be one of their biggest victories of the season, realized they could be successful with Jerryd Bayless leading a deliberate Kevin O'Neill brand of basketball.

Then they tired of the scheme two months later and plunged to a seventh-place Pac-10 finish and first-round NCAA tournament exit.

Tonight, in their rematch in the Pac-10/Big 12 Hardwood Series, both teams could again have a defining moment.

Both lost key players — Texas A&M lost three starters and UA two — and their identical 5-1 records this season have mostly come against low-rated opponents. The Wildcats have the 330th-toughest schedule, and the Aggies come in at No. 288, according to USA Today's Sagarin ratings.

"We're still finding ourselves," said Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, the Aggies' second-year coach. "We're still learning about our team. When you're playing games at home and winning by 20, you don't know where you're going."

Whereas Turgeon had the benefit of learning a little bit last week, when the Aggies lost to Tulsa and then beat Kent State at a South Padre Island tournament, the Wildcats lost to UAB at home and then went to an empty arena in Georgia to face a low-major team and a mid-major team.

Not much learned there.

This is different.

"Obviously, we're going to try to win the game, but what I'm really interested in is how will we respond?" Pennell said. "How will we play? Can we go into a hostile environment, be ultra-competitive and have a shot at winning the game or win the game."

So far, both teams have focused on developing themselves more than studying the opposition. It's early December, after all.

But senior forward Fendi Onobun took a look at the Aggies' roster before he started watching films this week, and he was impressed.

"They lost (Joseph) Jones and (DeAndre) Jordan, but they're still pretty big," Onobun said. "It will be a great test to see what our team is truly made of this early in the season."

Turgeon said the Aggies aren't playing very well yet, though he said they could become a much better team by January or February.

"I knew we were losing a lot of leadership and toughness" this season, Turgeon said Thursday. "But I just thought it would be better. We'll be good for four minutes and not good the next four. We just haven't played well, and adversity hit us last weekend. Our consistency and leadership hasn't been great."

One thing both coaches know for sure, at this point, is each other. Turgeon was an assistant coach under Jerry Green at Oregon when he hit it off on the recruiting circuit with Pennell in the early 1990s.

Both are from Kansas — Turgeon from Topeka and Pennell from Pittsburg.

"We helped each other out," Pennell said. "We were young guys trying to figure out how to recruit, where to go on the road to eat, and all these things."

Pennell said he considered joining Turgeon's staff a few years ago at Wichita State but now is in the ironic position of facing him as UA's interim head coach.

"Life changes quickly," Turgeon said. "I was hoping Lute (Olson) would be around a few more years, but life changes and Russ got an opportunity to show that he can coach. I think he is doing a really good job under the circumstances."

Both have plenty of professional respect for each other. Pennell said Turgeon's basketball pedigree, having played under Larry Brown at Kansas and coached there under Roy Williams, is "off the charts."

Turgeon, likewise, speaks highly of Pennell.

"He's a great people person," Turgeon said. "He can relate to kids. He's got a really good mind defensively, and he's got a really good offensive mind to go with it."

● Jordan Hill's change-of-plea hearing, stemming from his Aug. 1 disorderly conduct charge, was postponed Thursday to Dec. 12 at Tucson City Court. Hill faces either a trial or the acceptance of a state offer, most likely a daylong diversion course, according to Tucson city prosecutor Laura Brynwood.

Hill was arrested on Aug. 1 after he initially refused police orders to stop fighting, according to Tucson police.