Coming off a game-winning three-pointer by Danuel House in the closing seconds of a 66-63 victory over Sam Houston State, Texas A&M will try to extend its four-game winning streak against Arizona State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reed Arena.
House, who was cleared to play for the Aggies (5-1) by the NCAA in the middle of the Puerto Rico Tipoff, caught his first action with a 17 point display against New Mexico. He now earns the most minutes on the team and leads A&M with 13.7 points per game.
Just behind him lies Jalen Jones at 12.3 points per contest. His lowest scoring performance and only single digit outing came against the Aggies only loss, a 55-53 decision against Dayton.
Arizona State (5-2) lost five seniors last year, but is led in scoring by junior guard Gerry Blakes (12.1), junior forward Eric Jacobsen (11.3) and senior forward Jonathan Gilling (11). Blakes grabs 8.3 boards a game, leading the Sun Devils.
Both teams are familiar with heartbreak. In the Sun Devils 14th NCAA tournament appearance last season, they fell short in the second round to Texas 87-85. Cameron Ridley advanced the Longhorns with a buzzer beater.
For the Aggies, their only defeat this season came when the Flyers Devon Scott tipped in a missed layup with one second remaining to clinch the first round win in the opening round in Puerto Rico.
The Sun Devils played in a non-conference tournament themselves, the CBE Hall of Fame Classic, where they dropped their only two losses to Maryland (78-73) and Alabama (76-71).
Among the remaining non-conference slate for the Aggies are Baylor, Kansas State and Mercer. Each of them earned bids to the NCAA tournament last year, and Kansas State has made appearances in the last five.
In the post season, Mercer knocked off the No. 3 seeded Duke, while Baylor reached the Sweet Sixteen before ending their season against the eventual Final Four bound Wisconsin Badgers.
Baylor will be next up for A&M, a game that will be played 8 p.m. Tuesday in Waco.