Texas A&M vs Tennessee basketball: Inside a battle between 2 of SEC’s top defenses

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COLLEGE STATION — When Texas A&M men’s basketball welcomes Tennessee on Saturday to Reed Arena, it’ll only be the second top-10 matchup to ever take place in the venue. The first came earlier this season, when the Aggies lost to Alabama 94-88 on Jan. 11.

Add the fact that the Aggies lost to Mississippi State on Tuesday, and the matchup between two of the best defenses in college basketball gets cranked up another notch.

A&M is 3-1 this season following a loss, a note that head coach Buzz Williams says speaks to the team’s experience.

“(We have a) mature group. You don’t have time to linger, even if the results are good,” Williams told reporters Friday. “We better get going because we’re playing a top-three team on Saturday. And so that was fun that we won however many in a row. I know, but we better get right.”

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Texas A&M Aggies guard Manny Obaseki (35) shoots against Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Riley Kugel (2) during the first half Feb. 18, 2025 at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi.

Attention to detail has been the Aggies’ specialty, as they have been excellent in late-game situations this season. A&M is 4-2 in games that come down to two possessions or less since the start of conference play. However, the Aggies struggled with 12 second-half turnovers against Mississippi State.

Tennessee is ninth in the SEC in turnover margin (1.76) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.44).

“We just can’t give it straight up to (Tennessee). For easy math, we need to shoot more balls than our opponent; I think that’s kind of part of our recipe,” Williams said. “(Shooting more balls) means we play with a low turnover rate, most likely. It means we play with a high offensive rebound percentage, most likely. It could mean we created more turnovers defensively… and it could mean we only gave them one shot; we didn’t give them multiple shots.”

A&M’s 14-6 record…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/texas-m-vs-tennessee-basketball-222747539.html

Author : Austin American-Statesman

Publish date : 2025-02-21 22:27:00

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