Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball host the South Carolina Gamecocks tomorrow at Reed Arena as they look to stay atop the SEC standings. The Aggies enter the matchup 15-4 overall, 5-1, in the SEC, and 41st in the NET rankings. The Gamecocks come in with an 11-8 overall record, 2-4 in the SEC, and 85th in the NET rankings.
This will be another must-win scenario for the Aggies' NCAA tournament chances as it will be yet another quad 3 matchup. The Aggies currently seem safely inside of the NCAA tournament field with most bracketologists placing the Aggies somewhere as either a 9 or a 10 seed. The Aggies will be heavily favored in this matchup as well with most betting sites having them around an 8.5-point favorite.
Texas A&M hoping to keep win streak alive against South Carolina on Saturday
Can we expect a similar result as to what we saw on Wednesday? That is certainly a possibility as both South Carolina and Mississippi State are similar on paper. Both teams play solid defense, but can lack on the offensive end. We also can't expect the Aggies to only turn the ball over 3 times. Even the best teams in the country average 8-10 per game.
The Gamecocks, like the Aggies, do a great job at sharing the basketball as they have 5 players averaging above 9 points per game. Former Ohio State Buckeye (and Gamecock, and Buckeye again) Meechie Johnson leads the Gamecocks with 15.1 points per game. Slowing him down will be a massive key for a potential Aggie victory tomorrow.
A couple of things really favor the Aggies in tomorrow's matchup. This may be the only conference game against a team that averages fewer rebounds than the Aggies. Winning the rebounding battle will be essential. The Aggies will also have to continue to play their style of basketball and dictate the game with their pace. The constant full-court pressing has worked. Other teams get tired in the second half and typically don't have enough depth to keep up.
Hopefully the Aggies are ready to go tomorrow and wake up ready to play. A win tomorrow inches them closer and closer to being a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament, but a loss could make things much more difficult. Check back on Sunday for my full reaction and analysis of tomorrow's matchup.