Below is a listen-in to the Texas A&M Men’s Basketball news conference ahead of tomorrow night’s matchup with Texas at Reed Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 o’clock. You can listen to the game on 1620 and 94.5 WTAW.
News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 13 Texas A&M men’s basketball team hosts the Texas Longhorns in the SEC opener for both teams at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Reed Arena.
- Texas is the most-played opponent for Texas A&M with 225 previous meetings, but the two teams have played just twice since 2012 when the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC. Texas leads the all-time series, 138-87.
RIVALRY RENEWED
With the return of one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in collegiate athletics, Cotton Holdings, Inc., signed on last summer with Texas A&M Sports Properties and Longhorn Sports Properties to become the title sponsor of the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown rivalry series between the Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Longhorns.
- Texas A&M Sports Properties and Longhorn Sports Properties are the locally based teams of Learfield—the media and technology company powering college sports—and the exclusive multimedia rights holders for Texas A&M University Athletics and University of Texas Athletics, respectively.
- Cotton Holdings is the title sponsor for contests between the two schools in every head-to-head sport in both Austin and College Station, as well as the year-long scoring system comprised of the results of up to 19 sports to determine which school wins the annual Lone Star Showdown rivalry series trophy and bragging rights for an entire year.
- Cotton is a leading infrastructure support services company in the $20 billion U.S. commercial restoration market. Headquartered in Houston with an International Logistics Center and regional offices throughout North America, Cotton provides property restoration and recovery, construction, roofing, consulting, temporary workforce housing and culinary services to public and private entities worldwide.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
|
Statistic |
Texas |
Texas A&M |
|
FGM |
30.2 |
25.9 |
|
FGA |
58.5 |
60.2 |
|
FG% |
.517 |
.431 |
|
3PM |
8.7 |
7.2 |
|
3PA |
20.8 |
22.2 |
|
3P% |
.417 |
.322 |
|
FTM |
15.3 |
17.2 |
|
FTA |
21.3 |
24.6 |
|
FT% |
.718 |
.697 |
|
Off. Reb |
9.6 |
17.1 |
|
Def. Reb |
27.8 |
25.8 |
|
Rebounds |
37.5 |
42.9 |
|
Assists |
15.4 |
13.2 |
|
Steals |
6.9 |
8.3 |
|
Blocks |
4.9 |
4.7 |
|
Turnovers |
9.0 |
12.8 |
|
Points |
84.5 |
76.2 |
NEED-TO-KNOWS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS: The Aggies enter SEC play as winners of seven straight after the team’s first undefeated December in more than a decade (since 2010).
ONE-OF-A KIND NON-CON: Texas A&M played eight non-conference opponents from power conferences, which is the most in school history.
The Aggies were 3-0 against AP Top 25 opponents during the non-conference slate. The three-game win streak is tied for the second-longest in program history behind the four-game string by Buzz Williams’ 2022-23 squad.
FIRST FOR “FOUR”: In his return from the first missed game of his career, Wade Taylor IV logged the first double-double of his career with 15 points and 10 assists vs. ACU.
Taylor is one of six power conference players averaging 15.0+ points while dishing out 60+ assists with fewer than 30 turnovers.
ON THE DEFENSE: Texas A&M has limited all 13 opponents to below their current season-long FG%.
Most impressively, two opponents are shooting better than 50% from the field for the season – Ohio State (.505) and Texas Tech (.517). Those teams combined for a 39.1 FG% vs. the Aggies.
PUSH TO SHOVE: Texas enters Saturday averaging 30.2 FG/G, but the Aggies allow an average of just 21.2 FG/G. The most field goals allowed by the Aggies so far is 28 to Rutgers on 11/30. Texas A&M has limited opponents to 20 or fewer FGs six times.
GLASS EATERS: Texas A&M pounds the offensive glass for a NCAA-best 17.1 offensive rebounds/G in 2024-25. The Aggies also sit atop KenPom’s offensive rebound % standings at 45.4%.
BOARDS ADVANTAGE: A&M has been out-rebounded just once this season and have won the rebound battle by at least six in 11 of 13 games. The Aggies own a 11.6/G rebound margin for the season (No. 7 nationally).
FROM DOWNTOWN: The Aggies have quietly connected on 40% or better of their 3-point tries in three straight games, which hadn’t happened since the first three games of the 2022 SEC Tournament.
Texas A&M hits a modest 32.2% of its 3-point tries (No. 261), which is noticeably better than last season’s 29.3% (No. 334).
Conversely, Texas A&M has limited its opponents to 28.8% on 3-point tries. Among teams that have faced 330+ 3-point attempts, the Aggies rank No. 6 nationally in 3-point FG defense.
BENCH IMPACT: On a team that is shooting 43.1% from the field (39.6% from its starters), the bench has been instrumental to its 11-2 record with a 48.7 FG% and an average of 32.1 points/game. Manny Obaseki is the team’s top bench scorer with 80 points.
NET SETTERS: Texas A&M is one of 12 D1 teams with at least five NET Quad 1 or Quad 2 victories on its NCAA Tournament resume.
NOTING THE TRENDS
- Nebraska transfer C.J. Wilcher has connected on 50% of his 3-point attempts over the past three games, including a flurry of three treys in a 49-second span vs. ACU (12/28).
- The Aggies didn’t allow an opponent to reach 70 points in the month of December. The last opponent to score more than 67 points vs. the Aggies was Rutgers with 77 in the final game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas (11/30).
- Texas A&M has earned 40+ rebounds in nine games, while just allowing 40+ opponent rebounds just once (42 by Rutgers).
- Wade Taylor IV is averaging a 2.31 assist/turnover ratio, which is far ahead of his career best of 1.49 as a sophomore in 2022-23.
- Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne hit 82.6% of his FG attempts in December (19-of-23) while pulling down 4.8 rebounds/G off the bench.
- The Aggies demonstrated uncommon depth in non-conference play: 11 players averaged at least 10 minutes of action, including five players with at least 20:00/G. Also, 10 players average at least 4.0 points/G and nine Aggies average 2.0+ rebounds/G.
STAT SHEET-FILLER PHELPS
SMU transfer Zhuric Phelps is one of nine D1 players, and just two power conference players, averaging 12.0+ points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.
- Phelps has been particularly effective in generating steals. He’s had two or more thefts in 10 of 12 games, including a season-high seven in the most recent game vs. ACU (12/28).
- He flirted with a triple-double vs. ACU when he posted 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.
- His 2.6 steals/G rank No. 11 nationally and No. 2 among SEC players.
- Phelps and Missouri’s Anthony Robinson II are the only SEC players averaging double-digit points and 2.5+ steals per game.