Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball are back on the home court at Reed Arena tomorrow afternoon as they take on the Oklahoma Sooners. Both teams come into the games in similar situations, both needing a win tomorrow to help their chances of making the NCAA tournament.
The Sooners are coming off a bad 19-point road loss against Mississippi State on Wednesday. Now with an 11-4 record and a drop to 58 in the NET rankings, Oklahoma has a much-needed Quad 1 opportunity to get the team back in the right direction. The Aggies are coming in with a 12-3 record, 6 game winning streak, and sit at 48 in the NET rankings. Unfortunately, this will be a Quad 2 game for the Aggies but will be a much-needed win for their hopes of an NCAA tournament berth.
Texas A&M continues NCAA Tournament pursuit with game against Oklahoma
The Aggies continue to share the ball well and currently have 5 active players averaging 10 or more points per game. Ruben Dominguez leads the team with 13.7 points per game followed by Agee, Hill, Griffen and Isaacs all averaging over 10 points per game as well. Hopefully Pop Isaacs can continue his hot streak and become a consistent top scorer for the Aggies as SEC play rolls along. The team as a whole has also continued passing the ball very well averaging 20.9 assists per game as a team, which happens to be the best in the nation.
Turnovers and rebounding continue to be an issue. The Aggies are averaging 12.7 turnovers per game which is tied for 238th in the country while the Sooners average just 9.5 per game (11th in the nation). The teams come in with virtually the same rebounding numbers. Winning the turnover and rebounding battle tomorrow will be crucial for a potential Aggie victory.
Oklahoma has a couple of players to look out for defensively. Nijel Pack (what a run he had with Miami 2 years ago) leads the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game followed closely behind by Xzayvier Brown with 15.7 points per game.
Containing these two will be key for the Aggies' success tomorrow. Mississippi State did an outstanding job guarding Oklahoma on Wednesday. Only 6 players scored, and 2 of them combined for only 5 points. The Sooners leading scorer only had 13 points. I imagine McMillan and staff will have taken a very close look at that game in preparation for tomorrow.
The Aggies will likely be slight favorites heading into the game tomorrow night. Either way, it should be another great game and hopefully another win under the Aggies' belt. Check back tomorrow evening for my full reaction and analysis.