OXFORD - The Texas A&M men's basketball team closes out regular season play with a crucial road matchup against Ole Miss at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Pavilion at Ole Miss. The Rebels represent a NET Quad 2 opponent for the Aggies.
TV/RADIO INFORMATION
TRENDS AND NOTABLES
MILESTONES TO WATCH
- Texas A&M and Ole Miss are mirror opponents in 2024 with the Rebels handing the Aggies a narrow 71-68 loss at Reed Arena on 1/27.
- The Aggies under Buzz Williams have posted a 4-2 record vs. the Rebels.
- A&M owns the advantage in the all-time series, 10-5, including 9-5 in SEC games. The Aggies are 3-4 in Oxford since joining the SEC.
TV/RADIO INFORMATION
- The game will be televised by CBS with Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Jay Wright (analyst) on the call.
- The matchup airs on the Texas A&M Radio Network, locally on 1620 AM/94.5 FM or worldwide on the 12th Man Mobile App with Andrew Monaco and Dr. John Thornton describing the action.
TRENDS AND NOTABLES
- Manny Obaseki has started the past two games for the Aggies (both wins) while contributing double-digit points in both contests. His start vs. UGA on 3/2 marked his first return to the starting five since the NIT Championship game vs. Xavier on 3/31/22 at Madison Square Garden. In last two games, Obaseki is slashing 14.5 points/4.0 rebounds/2.0 assists while averaging 27:00 of playing time (In the first 27 games of 2023-24, Obaseki averaged 10:30 of court time).
- In Aggie hoops vernacular, a "turkey" is three consecutive defensive stops. Six has become a magic number of sorts with the Aggies compiling an 11-2 record in games with six or more turkeys, including five straight wins. The last team to beat the Aggies with six or more turkeys was Ole Miss (6).
- Fourteen of the Aggies' 30 games have been tied or a one-possession game after the final 4:00 media timeout. Texas A&M is 7-7 in those games.
- Guard standouts Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford have reached 10+ points in the same game 19 times in 2023-24 with the Aggies compiling a 12-7 record in those games. In games when they both reached 14 points, the W-L improves to 8-2, but with two straight defeats (at VU, home vs. SC).
- The dynamic duo have hit 20 points in the same game five times in their career, leading the Aggies to three of the school's top-ranked wins - No. 2 Alabama (3/4/23), No. 6 Kentucky (1/13/24) and No. 6 Tennessee (2/10/24).
- SEC Sixth-Man of the Year candidate Andersson Garcia leads the league in offensive rebounds (4.6) and total rebounds (9.5)
- The 6-foot-7 Garcia needs 21 rebounds to become the third Aggie to reach 300 boards in a season, joining Claude Riley (317) and Tyler Davis (313).
- The last 6-foot-7 or shorter SEC player to reach 300 rebounds was Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers, who had 326 in 2014-15.
- Garcia's 133 offensive rebounds are already the school record (123 by Tyler Davis in 2017-18) and is the tNo. 14 SEC season total since 1996-97 in just 30 games. His 4.6 o-rebs/G rank behind only Oscar Tshiebwe's 5.8 in 2022-23 and 5.3 in 2021-22 in that span.
- Texas A&M is the SEC leader in rebounding margin at 8.4 and rank No. 2 in rebounds at 42.8.
- The SEC's leader in fewest turnovers for the full season and league play, the Aggies are 11-2 when they have nine or fewer turnovers in a game.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
- Tyrece Radford needs 15 points to become the fifth player in school history to reach 400 points in three consecutive seasons.
- Jace Carter (148), Solomon Washington (147) and Radford (143) are all within range to 150 rebounds this season.