Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball return to Reed Arena tomorrow night as they take on the Rebels of Ole Miss. Coming into the game the Aggies are 17-8 overall, 7-5 in the SEC, and 43rd in the NET rankings. The Rebels are entering tomorrow's game with an 11-14 overall record, 3-9 in the SEC, and 92nd in the NET rankings.
It's pretty simple. Tomorrow is a must win game for the Aggies if they want to make the NCAA tournament. The Aggies have yet to lose a quad 3 or 4 game so far this season, and that has helped them massively in the tournament metrics despite a lower strength of schedule. The Aggies' NCAA tournament hopes are already on life support as most bracketologists have them either as a 9 or a 10 seed at this time. A quad 3 loss on their resume may take them completely out.
Texas A&M faces must-win situation in tomorrow's Ole Miss contest
The matchup on paper is heavily slanted towards the Aggies. The only two areas where Ole Miss has the advantage on paper is they don't turn the ball over as often, and they give up fewer points on average. The Aggies shoot the ball better from the field, from the line, and from beyond the arc. The Aggies score a lot more points, they force more turnovers, heck, the Aggies even rebound better, surprisingly.
Defensively, the player to watch for on Ole Miss is former St John's, Wisconsin, and Kansas guard AJ Storr. Storr, who was 2nd team All-Big Ten as a sophomore at Wisconsin two years ago, leads the Rebels with 14.6 points per game. He can be a very dangerous player to play against, and the Aggies' guards are going to have their hands full.
Then there is Rashaun Agee's matchup, Malik Dia. Dia is coming in averaging 13.2 points per game and leads the Rebels in rebounding with 6.1 per game. Agee winning that head-to-head matchup will be the key to a potential Aggie victory.
Offensively, the Aggies need to stick to what has been working of late. Rashaun Agee is about as consistent as they come. Marcus Hill has really stepped up recently and helped the Aggies not be too reliant on made 3-pointers.
The biggest question mark is Ruben Dominguez. He's struggled massively as of late shooting the ball, and if he can't get things going, Ali Dibba needs to be on the floor more often. Dominguez is a liability when it comes to defense and rebounding, whereas Dibba has been a major asset in those areas.
Hopefully tomorrow night looks similar to the Mississippi State and South Carolina games, and the Aggies can get back in the win column. They should win tomorrow night, but we said the same thing last week against Missouri. Check back tomorrow night for our full reaction and analysis of tomorrow night's matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels.