Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball head to Oklahoma City as they take on the Gaels of Saint Mary's College in the first round of March Madness. The Aggies enter the game with a regular season record of 21-11, 11-8 overall against the SEC, and 44th in the NET rankings. The Gaels are coming in 27-5 overall regular season record, 16-3 against the WCC and 22nd in the NET rankings.
These two teams could not be any more different in their playing styles. The Aggies are an undersized team that likes to play fast, press full court, and play a lot of guys. The Gaels are a very tall team that wants to slow things down, play in the half court, and doesn't have a very deep bench. The Aggies are a top 10 scoring offense (87.7 ppg) in the country, top 30 in tempo, and top 20 in depth. The Gaels are a top 10 defense (only give up 64.6 ppg), bottom 60 in tempo, and bottom 40 in depth.
Texas A&M faces complete opposite in St. Mary's for NCAA Tournament round 1
It gets even deeper. The Aggies are the 16th best team in the country when it comes to "Kill shots" (10-0 scoring runs) with 29 on the year. Saint Mary's is 4th best in the country with not giving up "Kill shots", only giving up 4 all season.
Don't get me started on the height advantage the Gaels will have. They have 2 players above 7' tall who both play significant minutes per game. The Aggies, on the other hand, don't have a single 7-footer, and even their tallest players don't play significant minutes. The Gael's centers aren't the biggest scoring threats, but rebounding is going to be a top priority for the Aggies in the matchup.
So how do the Aggies win this game? It starts by making shots, especially from beyond the arc, and rebounding. The Aggies have to push the pace to force the Gaels to play their game. The first half is going to be key. Saint Mary's hasn't seen a press like A&M's.
The Aggies are going to need to make shots early to be able to set up their press and force early turnovers on the Gaels and try to push the pace. If this game is very close at half, it won't be a good sign for the Aggies. Teams tend to adjust well at half with far fewer turnovers, and a lot more points in the second half of games. The Kentucky game is a perfect example of this.
No matter what happens, I think we're in for a fantastic game tomorrow night. The Aggies are currently 3.5-point underdogs with the majority of the public taking the Aggie's spread and predicting this game to be close. Will the Aggies go home, or will they survive and advance? What opposing style will prevail? Check back tomorrow night after the game for our full reaction and analysis of tomorrow night's game.