Texas A&M returns to the court at Reed Arena Tuesday night against Vanderbilt hoping to win its third SEC game in a row after hitting a roadblock against West Virginia Saturday.
Entering this season, A&M had three returning sophomores that were considered to be the nucleus of the team after their performances last season: Tyler Davis, Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg.
This year, all three players are the top scorers on the team, with Davis averaging 14 points per game as well as Gilder and Hogg scoring 13. True freshman Robert Williams is fourth on the team with an average of 11 points per outing.
Hogg went down with a foot injury prior to the Aggies’ 80-76 victory over Ole Miss and went on to also miss Texas A&M’s 81-77 loss to No. 18 West Virginia.
In Hogg’s absence, Gilder and Davis have stepped up with career performances.
Gilder has scored a career-high two games in a row posting 22 points versus Ole Miss and 24 against West Virginia as well as playing at least 39 minutes in the last four games.
Davis scored 20 and 19 points in the two games and posted career-highs of 18 rebounds and 36 minutes played versus West Virginia.
Texas A&M (11-9, 3-5 SEC) head coach Billy Kennedy praised both Davis and Gilder’s performances in the last few games.
“He stayed out of foul trouble,” Kennedy said regarding Davis’ success versus West Virginia. “The way they played we were able to push him all the way to the end of the press. He was in position to use his size. He still turned the ball over too many times but he’s making his free throws and he’s playing well. And Admon played probably three of his better games all year.”
Kennedy said he has been pleased with the Aggies improving but that turnovers are still plaguing them and ultimately preventing the squad from consistently winning.
“We’re playing better and at this time of the year is when you want to be playing your best basketball,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got to get better and take care of the ball. I don’t care where you’re playing. I thought if we could cut it down to 18 turnovers that could have given us a true chance to win.”
The Commodores (10-11, 3-5 SEC) sit tied for ninth with A&M in the SEC standings and are coming off a 84-78 win over Iowa State where seniors Luke Kornet and Nolan Cressler combined for 41 points.
Cressler, a 6-foot-4 point guard has now scored in double digits in seven of his last 10 games. First-year head coach Bryce Drew was pleased with their performance against Iowa State and said communication has been the key to his relationship with his two veterans.
“We’re big on communication, and I’m in constant communication with Nolan and Luke,” Drew said. “They give great feedback and we talk a lot about different decisions we’ll make moving forward. They’re excitement to play and improve. The point combination of those two together [against Iowa State] may have been the best of their careers.”
Vanderbilt has four players who average double figures with junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis leading the pack with 16 points per game. Kornet is second with 14 followed by Jeff Roberson (11) and Riley LaChance (10).
Kornet, who is 7-foot-1, will face off against Davis in a battle between two of the SEC’s best big men. Davis said Tuesday afternoon that he has been relishing the opportunity to face Kornet again.
“I’ve been waiting to play Luke Kornet all year,” Davis said. “Since the summer, every time I worked out I thought about him and [Arkansas’ Moses Kingsey]. I like the challenge of guarding Kornet because he can step out or might try to put it on the floor and come at me to get me in foul trouble. That’s the fun of the game, I’ll look to go at him a little bit too.”
Tip-off between the Aggies and Commodores is set for 8 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU.