Texas A&M Looks For Season Sweep At Home Against Auburn
Momentum can carry a team deep into the regular season. So can disrespect.
Maybe that's what the Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team feels entering their midweek showdown against Auburn on Tuesday night at Reed Arena. Despite garnering eight wins against SEC opponents, the Aggies remain unranked in the eyes of Associated Press voters entering the final weeks of action.
Is it foolish for the Aggies (16-7, 8-2) to be upset at a ranking that won't determine or deteriorate their chances of making the NCAA Tournament in March? In a sense, yes. Then again, Texas A&M has proved it can hang with the big boys on the court.
Fans in College Station know this to be true. So do opponents that enter the building.
“A&M is probably playing as well as anybody in the league, " Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Monday in preparation for the rematch. "(The Aggies) and Alabama are probably playing the best.”
The Aggies' 79-63 win over Auburn (17-6, 7-3) less than two weeks ago might have been their best performance of the regular season. Senior guard Tyrece Radford racked up a season-high 30 points and nine rebounds while Wade Taylor IV scored 15.
The game in itself against a top-15 foe certainly had the nation buzzing about A&M's upside, but it was the significance of the win that put the Aggies on the map. Buzz Williams' roster ended a 28-game win streak for the Tigers at Neville Arena.
Programs like Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, and others had their chances the past two years but came up short. Those as the teams viewed as "locks" to make the tournament every season.
As for the Aggies, they remain on the outside looking in.
“We have to continue to do us,” senior forward Henry Coleman III said. “Just continue to focus on our defensive principles and our offensive principles and not get too far ahead of ourselves. Just focus on the moment and prepare for it.”
The Tigers haven't recovered from the sting of Texas A&M's triumph. Four days after watching the nation's longest home winning streak end, Auburn dropped another one in Morgantown against the pesky West Virginia Mountaineers as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. A week later, the Tigers fell on the road by three to No. 6 Tennessee.
The same can't be said for the Aggies. The victory fueled A&M to a pair of wins over Vanderbilt and Georgia. And while an 11-point loss to Arkansas ended what could've been the Aggies' longest winning streak, it hasn't halted the program's production when playing at home.
Inside Reed Arena, the Aggies have outscored opponents 359-295. A&M has also yet to drop a game in conference play when taking the court in front of the Aggie faithful.
Every win matters moving forward for both programs. The Tigers fell out of the top 25 for the first time this season and could be teetering the line of making or missing the tournament with a string of losses. Meanwhile, the Aggies still could use a win or two to strengthen their case as a legitimate postseason contender.
Currently, the Aggies will have two more ranked matchups on their schedule against the No. 6 Volunteers on Feb. 21 and No. 4 Alabama on March 4. Still, the Tigers shouldn't be slept on despite their recent struggles.
This time last season, the Tigers had lost their mojo following an overtime road loss to Arkansas. They ended up winning five of their last eight games. As for the Aggies, they dropped eight straight midway through the year, factoring into their chances of making a deep NCAA run.
Fans and voters often live in the moment, so no one is paying attention to an Aggies' win on the road from last month. Instead, all eyes are on a potential win at home.
And both sides know what's at stake.
"They are doing some different things than they did when he played them last time," Williams said.
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