Thursday night, Texas A&M men’s basketball will head to the Nashville for a crucial mid-week matchup against Vanderbilt with SEC tournament implications on the line.
The Aggies (13-11, 5-7 SEC) and the Commodores (12-13, 5-7 SEC) are both looking to get back on the winning track after suffering losses to No. 13 Florida and Missouri, respectively. Additionally, both A&M and Vanderbilt are in a five-way tie with Auburn, Mississippi State and Georgia for eighth place in the conference standings, which can possibly affect tournament seeding come March.
Despite an impressive outing against Florida this past Saturday, the Aggies’ inexperience has been one of the team’s biggest issues this season. A&M is led by sophomore center Tyler Davis, who has an SEC-leading 68.1 field goal percentage and freshman forward Robert Williams, who averages 7.4 rebounds per game. Williams, who has 61 blocked shots this season, has been the main contributor helping the maroon and white rank No. 12 in the nation in that category.
However, the Aggies have continued to struggle in protecting the ball throughout the season. In the game against No. 13 Florida, A&M turned the ball over 20 times. This season, the Aggies have lost every game they have committed more than 20 turnovers.
For Vanderbilt, this is the first home game in two weeks. The ‘Dores will look to defeat the Aggies for the second time this season. In the previous match up at Reed Arena, Vanderbilt defeated the Aggies 68-54 thanks to the efforts by senior 7-footer Luke Kornet, who scored 12 points in 36 minutes of play.
Kornet also led the team in scoring this past weekend in its loss to Missouri, becoming the 45th Commodore to score more than 1,000 points in a season. Junior guard Riley LaChance gives Vanderbilt the advantage from three-point range with a 49 percent shooting average.
Vandy has never lost to the Aggies in Memorial Gym and leads A&M 6-2 in the all-time series. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
