Sizing Up The Aggies – A Quick Preview Of Texas A&M

Don't look now but Oklahoma's men's basketball team is on a two game winning streak and (gulp) in a lump of six teams who only have one conference loss. The problem is that OU's mini winning streak has been over the course of the last two home games and now OU returns to the road where the last time the Sooners played away from Norman they suffered a 31 point loss. While protecting the home court is a must, if Oklahoma wants to try and put a resume together that's worthy of an NCAA Tournament bid they must also pick up some wins on the road and their next two games afford them that opportunity. First up, Texas A&M.

The Aggies are perfect at home as well (9-0) with a 12-5 overall record and 1-2 mark in conference. However, their losses are to Kansas State and Texas so we find that their record is not indicative of the quality of their play. They've just had to suffer through a brutal early conference schedule. You can count on the fact that they'll be looking to make a statement tonight against Oklahoma. Texas A&M is shooting .44% from the floor and 34% from three-point range which ranks them 11^th in the conference in both categories. From the charity stripe they're shooting 65% as a team which ranks them 9^th in the conference.  

Senior guard Donald Sloan averages 17.6 points per game and has made 23 three-point shots this season while shooting 40% from long range. With A&M's loss of Derrick Roland to a broken led it leave Sloan as the only player averaging double figures in scoring. Senior forward Bryan Davis and junior guard B.J. Holmes are close to averaging double figures with 9.7 and 9.4 points respectively while Davis is also active on the boards (7.1 rebounds per game) and a strong defensive presence with an average of two blocks per game. Holmes leads the team with 27 made three point shots despite not starting a single game this season.  

Defensively, the Aggies are fifth in the Big 12 in shooting defense by holding their opponents to 40% from the floor. They're also fourth in the conference in defending the perimeter by holding opponents to 31% from three-point range.