After rallying in the second half to defeat Missouri at home, the now 3-2 in the SEC Texas A&M Aggies head to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers at noon on Saturday in Thompson-Boling Arena.
“I know we have fight, we’ve have good toughness,” A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said. “On the road, you put yourself in that situation too many times, it is going to be tough to come back. Especially at Tennessee. Tennessee (12-5, 4-1 SEC) is one of the most difficult places in this league to play. I won’t be shocked if there are 17,000 people in there. They like basketball up there and right now they’re playing really well. They’ll get good support.”
The Aggies (12-5) have recently found success in the second half, surging on scoring runs late in the game to take the come-from-behind win in the last three contests.
“I think we have to do a better job of focusing in and getting our sense of urgency,” A&M guard Alex Caruso said. “Maybe getting a harder sweat going at the beginning of the game. We just have to come out ready to play. The road games are the toughest ones and if you’re not ready, you’ll get embarrassed no matter where you play.”
Caruso—who leads the SEC in assists— has averaged 13 points in the last three games.
Currently, the Volunteers own the all-time series with the Aggies 5-3. However, Texas A&M won both games last season against Tennessee off last-second three-point shots from Antwan Space.
The last time these two programs met, Texas A&M defeated the Vols 68-65 at Reed Arena in overtime. With just eight seconds remaining on the clock, Space took and made a step-back three-pointer over Tennessee star forward Jarnell Stokes, clinching the season series for the Aggies.
For Tennessee, senior Josh Richardson leads the team from the point guard spot, averaging 16 points a game and shooting 48 percent from the field.
“Josh Richardson is a special player,” Kennedy said. “He is a senior now, Last year in the NCAA Tournament, he averaged 19 [points] a game. He was one of the leading scorers in the NCAA Tournament. When you have a good player like that to build around, it gives you an opportunity to win.”
The next time the Aggies hit the court, they will face off against the Auburn Tigers and their new head coach Bruce Pearl at 8 p.m. on Tuesday inside Auburn Arena.