Previewing Texas A&M’s Rivalry Matchup Against Texas On The Road

Here we go again. Another rendition of Texas A&M taking on Texas in basketball.

Do the Aggies go to Austin, Texas, and whoop the Longhorns? In the SEC Tournament last season, Texas defeated A&M 94-89 in a must-win game for them. It’s going to be a very interesting contest between two schools this time, with two new coaches, which makes it intriguing to see how their first year in a rivalry game goes.

Right now, ESPN Analytics has Texas defending home court with a 59.8 percent chance of winning the ballgame against A&M.

What does the A&M offense have up its sleeves on Saturday evening? Does the Texas defense have enough energy to keep up with the fast-paced game? Will coach Bucky McMillan’s program move to 4-1 in SEC play, or will Sean Miller’s program move to 3-2 in conference play?

"Our players havee to block out all the noise," McMillan said. "We're going to line it up, and we're going to play attacking basketball."

Aggies vs Longhorns Preview

Going into Saturday, the Aggies are feeling confident, despite losing a 2OT game on the road to the Volunteers, and now have a 3-1 SEC record. As for the Longhorns, they are also riding into the weekend feeling good after knocking off a top-10 Commodores team to earn their second conference win.

Three wins that A&M has recorded so far have come against LSU, Auburn, and Oklahoma. For Texas, its wins have come against Alabama and Vanderbilt. So both teams have had their fair share of quality opponents to add to their win columns and improve their resumes. One of these two teams will snag a Quad 1 game, while the other misses out.

Offensively, the Aggies are shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 73.8 percent from the free-throw line, and 36.9 percent from three. As for the Longhorns, they are shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 72.8 percent from the charity stripe, and 34.9 percent from deep.

A&M is ranked No. 4 in bench points per game, No. 5 in three pointers per game, No. 7 as a scoring offense and in assists, No. 10 in turnovers forced per game, No. 13 in three-point attempts per game, No. 15 in free throws, and No. 19 in steals, which is something to keep an eye on.

Texas is statistically close to where A&M is right now, ranking No. 1 in free throw attempts per game, No. 11 in rebound margin, No. 12 in fastbreak points, No. 23 in rebounds per game, No. 24 in scoring offense, and No. 43 in field goal percentage.

If those numbers are any indication of what the game will be like, everyone will be treated with a phenomenal game.

The Aggies travel to the Moody Center to face the Longhorns on Saturday, January 15 at 5 p.m. on ESPN.