After winning its 20th game of the season — a first for the Aggies under head coach Billy Kennedy — Texas A&M hopes to secure its 12th SEC win Tuesday against the Florida Gators.
The previous matchup between A&M and Florida was a 63-62 thriller. Fifth-year senior post Kourtney Roberson led the Aggies with a season-high 20 points, and junior forward Jalen Jones helped seal the win for Texas A&M by sinking two free throws with about a minute remaining.
As the teams prepare to meet again, Texas A&M (20-8, 11-5 SEC) sits in third place in the SEC behind undefeated Kentucky and one game back of Arkansas.
In its last game, Texas A&M beat Auburn by a whopping 25 points — its largest margin of victory in SEC play. Four of Texas A&M’s players scored double figures with Alex Caruso shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and Kourtney Roberson putting up a double-double.
Florida (14-15, 7-9 SEC) will be fighting to keep its postseason hopes alive. The team is led by forward Dorian Finney-Smith, guard Michael Frazier II and guard Eli Carter, all of whom are juniors. Carter scored 22 in the loss to the Aggies on Feb. 14 at Reed Arena.
Head coach Billy Kennedy discussed the pressure and difference A&M would feel playing at Florida’s home court.
“They didn’t play bad when they were here,” Kennedy said.” I think we could play better, but we will play them pretty much the same way. They press more at home and shoot the ball better on their court. They’re doing a few things differently offensively. Some of it will be predicated on whether Frazier plays or not. I think we’ll see more pressure.”
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Aggies as a nine-seed for the NCAA Tournament.
“We see the SEC tournament is coming up,” Jones said. “We know that we are in third place in conference right now. The top four gets a bye. That’s what we are really looking forward to right now — the SEC tournament — rather than the NCAA. We feel like we need to finish conference strong and go into the SEC tournament with some momentum, and then take it from there.”
Tuesday will be Texas A&M’s last road game. Their final game of the regular season is Saturday at Reed Arena against Alabama. The way the Aggies play in these final two games will determine whether or not they get a double bye in the SEC Tournament and could secure their place in the NCAA Tournament.
“At this time, it’s about finishing strong,” Jones said. “The teams that finish strong have the best chance of getting to postseason play. We have been consistent all year. I don’t think we have lost two games in a row except once. We just have to keep doing what we have been doing. Hopefully, we will start playing at our best. I think we’re playing good, [but] I just don’t think we’ve played at our best yet. It’s time to start playing at our best.”
Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPNU.