Texas A&M Basketball - What Sooner Fans Need To Know

There seems to be much turmoil in the bottom half of Big XII Basketball. Currently there are four teams tied for 5th in the conference while the top three have certainly set themselves apart. The Texas A&M Aggies fit in neither of these categories. Currently they boast a 1-4 record in conference but will be looking to get back on track as College Station will play host to the Oklahoma Sooners. The single conference win for the Aggies comes against the Texas Tech Red Raiders while their three of their four losses are against the current top four conference teams. While some may say this is unfamiliar territory for the Aggies, they simply aren't the teams of old and have struggled in nearly every aspect of the game.

The Texas A&M Aggies have a solid group of scorers who are averaging double figures this season. Khris Middleton and Elston Turner lead the Aggies with 13.2 points per game while David Loubeau adds another 10.2 per game. Coming off the bench, Ray Turner pours in another 10.6 points while getting roughly 22 minutes a game. In most cases, multiple scoring options like this will create problems all over the floor. When one player gets cold, simply pass the rock to the next guy who has the hot hand. This should be the case for the Aggies however these four players are the limitation of their scoring ability. Something that Texas Tech and Texas A&M have in common is that both struggle to compete on the score board. The Aggies are only dropping 61.7 points per game. Conference play is tough and barely eclipsing the 60 point mark makes it that much tougher.

If the Aggies hope to slow down this Oklahoma offense, they will need to control the paint. Andrew Fitzgerald put up 21 points in OU's last game and continues to surge. Romero Osby is a double-double threat every single time Oklahoma steps onto the court while Steven Pledger has the ability to draw contact and get to the charity stripe time and time again. Conference teams are picking up on this have are now game planning around Pledger.

On defense, Oklahoma will need to stay active in the passing lanes. aTm is susceptible to the turnover and will suffer significantly in the turnover to assist ratio as they have done all season long.

The biggest question is how will momentum affect this game? Oklahoma started their current two game win streak defeating the Kansas St. Wildcats and continued it in and ugly win against Texas Tech. Good teams find a way to win no matter what the circumstances are and Oklahoma certainly has started to play to win. The Aggies on the other hand are on a 1-game losing streak and have not had time to gain much confidence as they have already lost four in conference. Confidence is key and the Sooners have that right now.

The test of confidence will come as this Sooners team has yet to play well on the road in conference under Lon Kruger. Hopefully, this squad can add another notch to the W column and keep their win streak alive.