After defeating the Mercer Bears 65-50 and earning its 200^th win inside Reed Arena on Tuesday, the Texas A&M (8-3) men’s basketball team welcomes Hartford (7-6) to College Station for the Aggies final non-conference matchup at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Texas A&M struggled in the first, trailing Mercer 8-19 at one point. The Aggies maintained their composer and made a surge late in the first to take the lead 30-23 at the half. Texas A&M kept the intensity high into the second half and never looked back, maintaining the lead the entire half.
Junior forward Jalen Jones stuffed the stat sheets against Mercer, scoring 20 points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots.
“We have confidence in our comeback skills,” Jones said. “The Puerto Rico tournament really helped us with our confidence in being able to have a good second half. We just believe in our team; we know that when you’re down you can’t stay down, you have to keep fighting. Give Mercer credit because they’re a great team. They’ve played some great SEC teams. We were able to fight back and get the win.”
Jones has now scored 13 or more points and pulled down at least eight rebounds in four contests this season. Tuesday was also the second time he has reached the 20-point mark in a game this season.
Junior guard Alex Caruso scored seven points and earned eight assists in Tuesday’s matchup. Caruso continues to lead the SEC in assists, dishing out 67 assists this season at 6.1 APG.
The Hawks fell to the 14^th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish 87-60 in their previous matchup despite shooting 46 percent from the field. Senior forward Mark Nwakamma led the Hawks in scoring with 16 points, pulled down six rebounds and dished out five assists. The 6-6 235 lb. Nwakamma currently leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG.
Saturday’s matchup marks the second time the Aggies and the Hawks have competed on the hardwood. Texas A&M currently owns the series with a 79-66 win back on Dec. 30 1986 in Hartford, Conn.
Looking ahead, Texas A&M welcomes the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats to Reed Arena at noon on Jan. 10.