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Texas A&M Basketball: SEC Semis Preview – Vanderbilt

By Graham Harmon

Mar 31, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams speaks to his players on the court during the first half of the NIT college basketball finals against the Xavier Musketeers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams speaks to his players on the court during the first half of the NIT college basketball finals against the Xavier Musketeers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 10, 2023; Nashville, TN, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Dexter Dennis (0) blocks the shot of Arkansas Razorbacks guard Davonte Davis (4) during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2023; Nashville, TN, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Dexter Dennis (0) blocks the shot of Arkansas Razorbacks guard Davonte Davis (4) during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports /

Texas A&M basketball will face off against the Vanderbilt Commodores today in the SEC conference tournament semifinals. Vanderbilt took down Kentucky late last night, despite the Cats leading by 10 at one point—as was mentioned on the broadcast, John Calipari was 328-13 when leading by 10 at any point in the game. Kentucky was aiming to even the score after a rare home loss to the Commodores earlier this season, but Jerry Stackhouse’s bunch outplayed the Wildcats for most of the night. This Vanderbilt team has played extremely good basketball of late, racking up wins over the likes of not just Kentucky, but a full-strength Tennessee.

Vandy is currently a quad 2 team, coming in at 79th in the NET rankings, though, like I said, they’ve played above their heads for the last few weeks. Texas A&M basketball will certainly have a fight on their hands in this one. The matchup at Reed earlier in the season went back and forth for a while before the Aggies built a 13-point lead. That wasn’t enough, however, as the Commodores came charging back to close the deficit and take a lead of their own. The Aggies prevailed, however, behind 18 from Henry Coleman III and 14 from both Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford, for a final score of 72-66.

Vanderbilt is coming into this one feeling like a win over this Texas A&M basketball team would secure them a spot in the NCAA tournament. Of course, as every Aggie fan knows, sometimes your conference tournament performance isn’t quite enough to overcome early-season struggles in the eyes of the committee. Nevertheless, the Commodores will have a high level of energy right from the jump—and the Aggies need to be sure to match it.

The Commodores are without their leading scorer and rebounder in Liam Robbins, who is out for the season with an injury. However, their two guards, Tyrin Lawrence and Jordan Wright, have picked up the slack scoring-wise since Robbins went down. Wright isn’t a shabby rebounder himself, either, pulling down 5 per game at 6’6”. Dexter Dennis, Tyrece Radford, and the rest of the guards for this Texas A&M basketball team will have their work cut out for them to contain this dynamic backcourt—though if anyone in the conference is up for the challenge, it’s the Aggies. They’ve done well to shut down the likes of Tennessee and Alabama’s explosive guards, and will no doubt be ready for Vandy as well.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN following the conclusion of Alabama-Missouri, with an approximate start time of 2 PM CT.