Texas A&M Basketball: 3 Things to know about Providence
By Tim England
Texas A&M basketball opens the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a major challenge against the Providence Friars 10-seed in the East Region.
Advancing to the NCCA Tournament for the second time in three years, the Texas A&M Men’s Basketball team was awarded a 7-seed in the West Region during the NCAA Selection Show. The Aggies are paired against the 10-seed Providence Friars out of the Big East Conference.
The Friars are playing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament after finishing tied for third in the Big East with an overall record of 21-13. Here are three things to know about Texas A&M’s first round opponent:
1. Providence is a balanced team
The Providence Friars have three players averaging over 10 points a game in Rodney Bullock, Alpha Diallo and Kyron Cartwright. Bullock leads the team with 14.0 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field. Jalen Lindsey leads the Friars from deep, shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range.
What Providence doesn’t have in major star power, they make up in toughness. The Friars have that mentality of team basketball and Coach Cooley has proven to be one of the best in-game coaches. Easily the biggest strength of this team will be their guard play and if Texas A&M is able to matchup well.