Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball travel to the Music City tomorrow looking for a major quad 1 road win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Aggies come into the matchup 17-7 overall, 7-4 in the SEC, and 43rd in the NET rankings. The Commodores enter the contest with a 20-4 overall record, 7-4 in the SEC, and 15th in the NET rankings.
The Aggies are in desperate need for a big time win to get them back on track. Pretty much every bracketologist has them in the NCAA tournament field, but they are slipping way back towards the bubble with most projections placing them between the 9-10 seed lines. Jerry Palm at CBS even has them as one of the last 4 in and playing in the first 4 in Dayton. The Commodores seem to basically be a lock at this point and are consistently projected as a 4 seed.
Texas A&M in desperate need of a win over Vanderbilt in upcoming road trip
The matchup on paper tomorrow is actually pretty even despite Vanderbilt being around a 7.5-point favorite. The Commodores have slight advantages in points allowed per game, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage. The Aggies, surprisingly, have the advantage in rebounds per game, points per game, and 3-point percentage. If the Aggies want to win this game, they will need to do the same thing I have said all season: Win the turnover battle and hold your own on the glass.
Vanderbilt largely has a three-pronged offensive attack. The Commodores are by Tyler Tanner with 18.9 points per game, Duke Miles with 16.6 per game, and Tyler Nickel with 14.4 per game. Luckily for the Aggies, they actually have the size to match up well with these guys. I would expect some sort of combination of Lane, Hill and Isaacs on Tanner and Miles, while either Griffen, Dominguez, or Dibba, matchup on Tanner the sharpshooter.
One thing the Aggies need desperately on offense is a resurgence from Ruben Dominguez. He's been in a massive slump scoring 10 or more in only 2 games this past month and hasn't even eclipsed 5 points since Georgia. The Aggies have gotten good consistent play from both Rylan Griffen and Rashaun Agee lately; they just need other guys to step up around them.
We know this game is another that will likely go down to the wire. With the exception of the Florida game, the Aggies have been right there at the end with every team in conference play. Can the Aggies finally right the ship and toss the Commodores overboard? Hopefully they can get it done. Check back tomorrow night for my full reaction and analysis of tomorrow's matchup.