News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Texas A&M men’s basketball team earned an NCAA Tournament invitation for the second straight season and face 8-seed Nebraska of the Big Ten Conference at 5:50 p.m. on Friday at FedExForum.
It is the first time the Aggies have gone dancing in consecutive years since Texas A&M under Billy Gillipsie and later Mark Turgeon earned six straight invitations from from 2006-11. No other head coaches have taken the Aggies to back-to-back tournaments in program history.
Two-time SEC Coach of the Year Buzz Williams has guided three schools to the NCAA Tournament. He also took Marquette (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) and Virginia Tech (2017, 2018, 2019) to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2023-24 Aggies will be Williams’ 10th team advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Williams holds a 10-9 record in the NCAA Tournament.
In 15 previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament, Texas A&M holds a 13-16 record in the “Big Dance.”
Nebraska has the advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1969, 12-8. As members of the Big 12 Conference, the two teams faced off annually from 1997-2011 with the Huskers holding a 9-7 advantage.
The winner of the #8/#9 matchup between Nebraska and Texas A&M will face the winner of the #1/#16 clash between Houston and Longwood on 3/24.
NEBRASKA-TEXAS A&M Statistical Comparison
|
Statistic |
NEBRASKA |
TEXAS A&M |
|
FGM |
26.8 |
25.4 |
|
FGA |
59.3 |
63.5 |
|
FG% |
.452 |
.399 |
|
3PM |
9.5 |
6.9 |
|
3PA |
26.4 |
24.2 |
|
3P% |
.358 |
.284 |
|
FTM |
14.5 |
17.2 |
|
FTA |
19.2 |
24.3 |
|
FT% |
.754 |
.709 |
|
Off. Reb |
9.7 |
17.3 |
|
Def. Reb |
28.3 |
25.4 |
|
Rebounds |
37.9 |
42.7 |
|
Assists |
15.3 |
11.3 |
|
Steals |
6.3 |
7.1 |
|
Blocks |
2.6 |
2.9 |
|
Turnovers |
12.9 |
9.7 |
|
Points |
75.0 |
72.9 |
TV/RADIO INFORMATION
The game will be televised by TNT with Spero Dedes (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst) and Jon Rothstein (reporter) on the call.
The matchup airs on the Texas A&M Radio Network, locally on 1620 AM/94.5 FM or worldwide on the 12th Man Mobile App with Andrew Monaco and Dr. John Thornton describing the action.
TRENDS AND NOTABLES
Wade Taylor IV enters the NCAA Tournament on a bit of a heater, averaging 25.3 points over his past four games, including 30-point efforts vs. Kentucky (32) and Florida (30) in the SEC Tournament. He scored 82 points in three SEC T games to earn All-Tournament honors for the second straight year.
Similarly, Tyrece Radford has been instrumental in the Aggies 5-1 record this month while averaging 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Manny Obaseki’s recent insertion into the starting lineup has coincided with the Aggies’ strong March. Obaseki made his first start in nearly two years vs. UGa on 3/2 as the Aggies rolled off five straight wins on the way to a 5-1 March. As a starter, Obaseki has averaged 15.8 points and 3.0 rebounds, while connecting on over 50.0% of his 3-point tries (8-of-15).
Since Obaseki’s insertion in the starting lineup, the guard trio of Obaseki, Taylor and Radford is scoring 54.2 points of the Aggies’ 83.0 per game (62.9%) — 19.7 by Taylor, 18.7 by Radford and 15.8 by Obaseki.
Solomon Washington moved into the starting lineup in mid-January and responded with 8.7 points/6.3 rebounds since 1/16. Over the past five games, ‘Solo” is slashing 13.4/9.0 with a pair of double-doubles.
Andersson Garcia led the SEC in offensive (153) and total rebounds (320), while breaking school records in both categories. He’s the first 6-foot-7 or shorter SEC player to reach 300 boards since Auburn’s Cinmeon Bowers had 326 in 2014-15.
In the Tournament Field
Tyrece Radford is the only 6-foot-3 or shorter player in the field averaging more than 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Andersson Garcia is tied with Purdue’s Zach Edey for the most offensive rebounds with 153. Garcia ranks No. 9 in total rebounds with 320.
Wade Taylor IV ranks No. 11 in the field with 641 points and tNo. 15 with 88 3-pointers and 64 steals.
Andersson Garcia’s 153 offensive rebounds is tied for No. 6 SEC season total since 1996-97. He needs four offensive rebounds to surpass Dwayne Curtis (Ole Miss), Jarnell Stokes (Tennessee) and DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky) into third behind Oscar Tshiebwe’s 184 in 2022-23 and 179 in 2021-22.
Texas A&M is the SEC leader in rebounding margin at 8.9 and rebounds per game at 42.7.
Texas A&M leads the nation in offensive rebounds/game at 17.3 and have logged 20 or more offensive caroms in nine games.
The Aggies shot an average of 5.6 more field goal attempts than their opponents in the regular season (8.3 in the SEC Tournament).
The M&W ranked No. 2 in FTA in the SEC during league play with 23.7/G. The Aggies attempted 119 more FTA than their SEC opponents (6.6/G).
The SEC’s leader in fewest turnovers for the full season and league play, the Aggies are 13-2 when they have nine or fewer turnovers in a game.