The Texas A&M men’s basketball team (11-7, 2-4) faces one of the most difficult tasks in college basketball Monday night: playing No. 7 Kansas (16-3, 6-0) at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
The game marks A&M’s third road contest in league play against a top-10 foe, as the Aggies have played at No. 4 Baylor and No. 5 Missouri.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a perfect record in Big 12 play and currently sit atop the conference leader board after escaping Saturday’s battle against Texas, 69-68. Forward Thomas Robinson, who averages 17.7 points/game and 12.1 rebounds/game, has emerged as the leading candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year. Guard Tyshawn Taylor headlines KU’s rangy front court by averaging 16.5 points/game and 5.2 assists/game; he has connected for more than 45 percent of his three-point attempts this season.
The Aggies head into the contest with much needed momentum after dispatching the Oklahoma Sooners in overtime on Saturday, 81-75. After dropping three of the first four conference games, senior guard Dash Harris said that the gritty performance was indicative of this team’s resilience.
“To start off conference the way we have and to battle like we did, going down, coming back and finishing a game in overtime. It shows the character of this team and how good we can be,” Harris said.
Head coach Billy Kennedy, while excited about the win, said his squad would “need more than a repeat performance” to head back to Texas victorious.
“KU is a power in our conference, and we have to be able to control the ball and handle ourselves well,” Kennedy said.
Though the statistics show the Jayhawks to be the stronger team, especially while playing at home, junior guard Elston Turner believes that the Aggies can steal a win in Allen Fieldhouse.
“Playing against a Top-10 team at their place on national television — doesn’t get any bigger than that,” said Turner, who scored a game-high 23 points against the Sooners. “We feel like we can go in there and beat them, we’ve said it time and time again, it’s time to prove it.”
Harris is 0-3 during his career playing at Kansas. He said that, before he officially put on the Maroon and White four years ago, he vowed to beat the Jayhawks at their place.
“I’ve only got one shot left,” Harris said.