In their last home game, the Aggies played in front of the most crowded Reed Arena since 2011. Against Georgia on Wednesday, they’re ready for an encore.
Just more than halfway through the SEC schedule, the Aggies sit tied for second place. They’ll have a three-game homestand to secure their standing.
Georgia (15-7, 6-4 SEC) is tied for third in the SEC, one game back of Texas A&M. The team comes into College Station after a win at home against Tennessee. On Jan. 31, Georgia had a five game winning streak snapped by South Carolina, while A&M has won seven of its last eight.
A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said being physical is an important factor against Georgia.
“They’re a balanced scoring team, they’ve got five guys averaging double figures, they’re a veteran team, they have two senior post guys that present a lot of problems, they can shoot the ball and they can score around the basket, so it will be a really physical game and we’ll have to set the tone with how physical we want to play,” Kennedy said.
Georgia is led in scoring and rebounding by senior forward Marcus Thornton, who averages 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Texas A&M (16-6, 7-3 SEC) is tied for second in the SEC with No. 24 Arkansas. The Aggies are led in scoring by juniors Danuel House and Jalen Jones, who average 14.1 and 14 points per game respectively. House is sixth in the SEC from 3-point range, hitting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. Jones is sixth in the SEC in overall field goal percentage, shooting 48.3 percent.
The Aggies have the SEC’s leader in assists, junior guard Alex Caruso, who averages 5.8 assists per game and has a total of 127 this season.
A&M, which hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since the 2011 season, is projected as a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.
Kennedy said it is important to the players to win in February.
“They understand, they’ve been there and it hasn’t been as big and I told them this will be four years, this is a big game, this is the biggest game that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Kennedy said.
Georgia is 4-4 on the road, while Texas A&M is 10-1 at home. Its only loss was the second conference game against No. 1 Kentucky that A&M stretched to double overtime.
When asked how important the effect of the 12th Man is at Reed Arena, freshman guard Peyton Allen said the energy is evident during a game.
“Oh definitely, they can get rocking with us,” Allen said. “When we’re playing good defense, we can get the momentum behind us and it just carries on with us, and we just keep going. When this place is packed, it’s pretty crazy.”
Tip-off is at 6 p.m.