After being heavily defeated on Vanderbilt’s court Thursday night, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team will now attempt to repeat last week’s scenario by garnering a victory at home following a road loss.
The Aggies will face No. 25 South Carolina Saturday. The No. 8 Aggies sit tied atop the SEC with LSU, holding a 7-2 record. The Gamecocks are right behind the Aggies at 6-3. With a win, South Carolina can equal A&M at 7-3.
A&M (18-4, 17-2 SEC) is undefeated at Reed Arena this season with a record of 13-0. The Aggies’ last home game was an impressive win over then-No. 14 Iowa State, which holds the most wins against top-10 teams this season.
South Carolina (19-3, 6-3 SEC) enters the game after losing 69-56 away to Georgia Tuesday. The Gamecocks will travel to a hostile Reed Arena and are 3-3 on the road this season compared to 12-0 at home.
Senior forward Michael Carrera leads the way for the Gamecocks, averaging a team high 13.8 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. The Venezuelan is one of five players who average double-digit scoring for a South Carolina team that started the season 15-0 but slowed down to a 4-3 record over the last month.
Sindarius Thornwell leads the team in assists, tallying 3.4 per game. He is right behind Carrera in scoring with 12.4 points per outing.
The driving force for A&M this season has been the senior duo of Jalen Jones and Danuel House. Jones has been much improved this season, and leads the SEC in scoring with 17.5 per game. Jones has struggled though in the last three games, scoring 10, 13 and 4 points. House has been his usual self, pouring in 15.7 points per game.
Shooting from beyond the arc has proven difficult for A&M. The Aggies shot 5-of-21 against Iowa State and 7-for-22 against Vanderbilt.
The last time the Gamecocks and Aggies met was in South Carolina, where A&M prevailed 62-52. Saturday’s tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
