COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Texas A&M men's basketball team seeks to sweep the season series with the Missouri Tigers when the two teams face off in a 5 p.m. matchup at Mizzou Arena on Saturday.

• Mizzou is the Aggies' final "mirror" matchup of 2023. Texas A&M has swept season series with Auburn, Florida and LSU while splitting with Arkansas in its other mirror games.
• The Aggies handed the then-No. 20 Tigers a 82-64 defeat on 1/11 at Reed Arena.
• Under Buzz Williams, the Aggies are 4-2 vs. MU, including 2-0 at Mizzou Arena. In the overall series, the Aggies hold a narrow 23-20 advantage (12-7 as members of the SEC).

 
FASTEST SEC START:
The Aggies' 11-2 SEC record marks the program's best conference start after 13 games since joining the league (previous best was 9-4 in 2014-15). In fact, it is Texas A&M's best conference start in any league since Billy Gillispie's 2006-07 Sweet 16 team opened 11-2 on their way to a 13-3 Big 12 final record. It's the second time that Buzz Williams' Aggies have reached double-digits in SEC wins. The Aggies were 10-8 in Williams' first season in Aggieland (2019-20).
 
TRENDS & STREAKS:

• Texas A&M is a SEC-best 18-3 in its last 21 games against SEC opponents (includes SEC tournament).
• Since an uncharacteristic 58.3 FT% effort (14-24) against ARK on 1/31, the Aggies' lone sub-60.0 FT% of the season, the team has hit 80.0% in the past 4 games.
• The Aggies giving up a SEC-low 26.5 first-half points in SEC play.
• In their most recent game, the Aggie defense limited Arkansas to 23 points, which matched the lowest second half total of the season (gm 1 vs. ULM).
• The Aggies have earned a rebounding advantage in 12 of past 15 games, after having the board advantage in just six of the first 11 games of 2022-23.
• Tyrece Radford has reached 10+ points in 8 straight SEC games and 11-of-13 total SEC contests, while Wade Taylor IV has 13 or more in 10-of-13 games.
• Texas A&M is the only SEC team with two players hitting better than 50.0% from the field in SEC play (minimum 85 FGA): Julius Marble (.514) and Henry Coleman III (.512).
• Super sub Andersson Garcia has come off the bench to grab 6 or more rebounds in his last 4, including a season-high 10 vs. ARK.

 
MILESTONE ALERT:

• Dexter Dennis (699) and Tyrece Radford (694) have moved within range of the 700-rebounds plateau. 
• Andre Gordon's next steal will make him the 20th member of Texas A&M's 100-Steal Club.

 
Valuing the basketball:
Texas A&M is averaging just 9.1 turnovers over the past 7 games (64 total), which is down from the full season average of 11.9 per game.

• It is the Aggies' lowest TO average for any 7-game stretch in over 215 games.
• In the 7 games before the last 7, the Aggies turned the ball over an average of 13.7 times per game.

 
Getting to the line:
The Aggies rank No. 1 nationally in free throws made and No. 2 in FT attempts (No. 1 in SEC in both categories).

• Texas A&M and Alabama are the only SEC teams with over 600 FTA, and the Aggies have shot 100+ more free throws than 10 SEC teams and 200+ more than two teams.
• The Aggies average 19.0 - 25.4 FTM-FTA per game, which is well ahead of the pace set by ALL Texas A&M squads after 1970.
• Texas A&M has shot 16 or more free throws in 12-of-13 SEC games. The lone outlier was a 7-of-7 FT effort vs. UF on 1/18.
• Texas A&M has been to the line 25 or more times in 16 of 25 games and has hit 20 or more FTs 11 times.

 
RANDOM NOTABLES:

• The Aggies are 13-1 at the friendly confines of Reed Arena, including 7-0 vs. SEC opponents at home.
• Easily the Aggies' most prolific shooter from deep, Wade Taylor IV has improved his 3-point % significantly from last year. Taylor is hitting 35.8% in 2022-23 after making 27.8% as a freshman.
• The Aggies' starting lineup has a definite Pelican State flavor with at least two Louisiana natives in it for every game so far this season - Tyrece Radford (Baton Rouge) and Dexter Dennis (Baker).
• The Aggies have used the same starting lineup (Coleman III, Dennis, Marble, Radford and Taylor IV) for the last 14 games. For the season, the fivesome is 13-3 with losses to Boise State, Kentucky and Arkansas.
• The defensive-minded duo of Andersson Garcia and Andre Gordon have been the first players off the bench either individually or as a pair for the last 13 games.
• The Aggies' 2022-23 roster was bolstered by the addition of six newcomers in the offseason -- five transfers and one scholarship freshman. Headlining the group was Dexter Dennis, who was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Wichita State in 2021-22, and Julius Marble, who helped Michigan State advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Both have earned spots in the starting five.
• A nugget in the Jan. 12, 2021 Associated Press recap of Virginia Tech's win over Duke included legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski describing Radford's 18-point, 12-rebound, 6-assist effort in the victory: "The kid Radford was the best player on the court. Double-double, but his intensity, how hard he played really helps their team immensely."

 
LITTLE BIG MAN:
There are 11 total players in the SEC averaging 13.0+ points and 5.0+ rebounds per game. Texas A&M's 6-foot-2 Tyrece Radford is the SEC's only 13.0+/5.0+ player under 6-foot-7. Radford is one of nine 6-foot-2 and shorter players nationally to average 13.0+ points and 5.0+ rebounds.
 
ONE OF A KIND:
Tyrece Radford is the NCAA's ONLY active 6-2 or shorter player hitting more than 50.0% of his field goal attempts for his career (minimum 600 attempts).
Active 6' 2" or Shorter Shooting Pct. Leaders
(Minimum 600 FGA)
Rk        Player, School FGM-FGA        FG%
1.         Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M   486-959           .507
2.         Brandon Whitney, Montana   307-619           .496
3.         Cameron Parker, Portland St. 417-847           .492
4.         Jayden Saddler, Saint Peter's 426-867           .491
5.         Dwayne Cohill, Youngstown St.          409-847           .483
 
STRAW THAT STIRS THE DRINK
Sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV, the 6-foot do-it-all dynamo from Dallas, Texas, ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in a wide array of statistical categories:
 
Statistic                  Average            SEC Rank
Points                      15.3                  No. 7
FG Attempts           293 total           No. 7
Assists/TO Ratio     1.70                  No. 8
Assists                     4.1                    No. 6
Steals                      1.7                    No. 8
Free Throws            101 total           No. 5
FTA                          120 total           No. 9
FT%                         84.2%                No. 1
3-pointers               2.3                    No. 7
3-point attempts    164 total           No. 6
 
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION:

• The game will be televised by ESPN2 with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (color) on the call.

• The matchup airs on the Texas A&M Radio Network or locally on 1620 AM/94.5 FM with Andrew Monaco and Dr. John Thornton calling the action.