BATON ROUGE – The No. 22 Texas A&M men's basketball team (21-9 overall, 10-7 vs. SEC) faces the LSU Tigers in the regular season finale for both teams at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Maravich Assembly Center.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
As of 3/5
LAST 10 GAMES VS. LSU
NEED-TO-KNOWS
MILESTONES TO WATCH:
EYES FORWARD, BUT... A&M's wire-to-wire 83-72 win over top-ranked Auburn marked the first victory over the AP No. 1 team in school history.
A&M's three highest-ranked victories have come during the Buzz Williams era. The other two victories were over No. 2 Alabama, 67-61, in the 2022-23 regular season finale at Reed Arena and over No. 4 Auburn, 67-62, in the 2022 SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
Williams now has five wins vs. AP top six opponents at A&M - no other Aggie coach has more than two.
DEEP DIVE INTO NET: A&M's total of 24 games vs. Quad 1 and 2 foes is tied for No. 1 among D1 schools with Auburn, Alabama, Illinois and Purdue. The Aggies' 15 victories vs. Q1/2 is tied for No. 5 behind Auburn (21), Alabama (17), Houston (17) and Florida (16). A&M is tied with Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
ZHU & 4: With a team-high 423 points, Zhuric Phelps has already logged his third straight season with at least 400 points, while Taylor is six points away from his third-straight 400-point season. As of 3/6, only Florida with Alijah Martin and Walter Clayton Jr. has two players with at least 400 points in three straight seasons among D1 schools.
ONE OF A KIND: Texas A&M is D1's only team ranked in the top 10 in total rebounds/G (No. 7, 40.8/G), offensive rebounds (No. 1, 16.1/G) and rebound margin (No. 5/ 8.9).
SUM OF PARTS: Texas A&M is one of three SEC teams averaging more than 40.0 rebounds/G for the full season (No. 3 with 40.8/G), and are doing it without any single player averaging at least 6.0/G. Among the 14 D1 teams averaging 40+ rebounds/G, Texas A&M and Tennessee State are only schools without a player averaging 6.0+ rebounds/G.
OFFENSIVE GLASS: Texas A&M leads the NCAA with an average of 16.1 offensive rebounds/G for the full season and leads the SEC with 15.4 o-rebounds/G in league games.
GUARD COMBOS UNDER BUZZ WILLIAMS
With six more points by Wade Taylor IV, the Aggies will have four straight seasons with two 400+ points guards on the roster.
Last 4 Texas A&M guard combos
TREND BULLETS
TV/RADIO
- LSU holds a 29-22 lead in the overall series with Texas A&M, which began with a pair of games in the 1916-17 season.
- The Aggies have won four of the last five matchups, including 68-57 in the 1/18 meeting earlier this season at Reed Arena.
- Texas A&M is 4-7 vs. the Tigers under Buzz Williams (since 2019-20).
- Since the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012-13, they are 11-15 vs. LSU.
- Historically, LSU has had the upper hand against Aggies on its home court with a commanding 13-4 record vs. the M&W since 1950. Texas A&M, however, has a two-game winning streak in Baton Rouge with victories in 2023 and 2024, which marks the only time the Aggies have won back-to-back games at the PMAC.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
| Statistic | LSU | Rank | Texas A&M | Rank |
| Scoring Offense | 75 | T-141 | 74.1 | T-176 |
| Scoring Defense | 73.3 | 217 | 67.6 | T-56 |
| Scoring Margin | 1.7 | 189 | 6.5 | T-87 |
| Field Goal % | 45.0 | 167 | 41.9 | 316 |
| Free Throw % | 72.3 | 170 | 69.5 | 267 |
| 3-Point % | 31.0 | 314 | 30.8 | 321 |
| Free Throws/G | 13.6 | 182 | 17.0 | 19 |
| 3-Pointers/G | 7.9 | 151 | 6.9 | 261 |
| FT Attempts/G | 18.9 | T-198 | 24.5 | 11 |
| 3-Point Attempts/G | 25.6 | 71 | 22.5 | T-178 |
| FG% Defense | 42.2 | 89 | 40.5 | 27 |
| 3-Point % Defense | 31.8 | 82 | 33.4 | 173 |
| Fouls/G | 16.6 | 165 | 17.1 | 205 |
| Rebound Margin | -1.7 | 277 | 8.9 | 6 |
| Off. Rebounds/G | 10.4 | T-186 | 16.1 | 1 |
| Def. Rebounds/G | 25.6 | 103 | 24.7 | T-182 |
| Rebounds/G | 36.0 | 138 | 40.8 | 7 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 1.01 | 270 | 0.99 | 283 |
| Turnovers Forced/G | 11.5 | 224 | 13.7 | 55 |
| Effective FG pct | .517 | 166 | .477 | 320 |
LAST 10 GAMES VS. LSU
| Date | Opponent (RK) | Result | TAMU | Opp |
| 02/29/2020 | @LSU | L | 50 | 64 |
| 12/29/2020 | @LSU | L | 54 | 77 |
| 01/26/2021 | LSU | L | 66 | 78 |
| 01/26/2022 | @LSU (19) | L | 64 | 70 |
| 02/08/2022 | LSU | L | 68 | 76 |
| 01/07/2023 | LSU | W | 69 | 56 |
| 02/11/2023 | @LSU | W | 74 | 62 |
| 01/06/2024 | LSU | L | 53 | 68 |
| 01/20/2024 | @LSU | W | 73 | 69 |
| 01/18/2025 | LSU | W | 68 | 57 |
NEED-TO-KNOWS
MILESTONES TO WATCH:
- Wade Taylor IV needs eight points match 2022 Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bernard King's 22-year old career scoring record of 1,990 set from 1999-2003.
- Taylor needs four free throws to match King's school record for FTs in conference games of 269.
- Taylor needs 18 points to become the 28th player in SEC history to reach 2,000 points.
- Taylor needs 11 points to become the third Aggie to score 1,000 points in league games.
- Henry Coleman's next assist will be No. 100 for his career at Duke and Texas A&M.
- Pharrel Payne's next rebound will be No. 500 of his career at Minnesota and Texas A&M.
- Hayden Hefner's next 3-pointer will be his 100 for his career.
- The LSU game will be the 140th game of Hefner's career, which is just two from matching Kourtney Roberson's record of 142 set from 2010-15.
- Andersson Garcia's next offensive rebound will make him the fifth member of Texas A&M's 300-offensive rebounds club.
EYES FORWARD, BUT... A&M's wire-to-wire 83-72 win over top-ranked Auburn marked the first victory over the AP No. 1 team in school history.
A&M's three highest-ranked victories have come during the Buzz Williams era. The other two victories were over No. 2 Alabama, 67-61, in the 2022-23 regular season finale at Reed Arena and over No. 4 Auburn, 67-62, in the 2022 SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
Williams now has five wins vs. AP top six opponents at A&M - no other Aggie coach has more than two.
DEEP DIVE INTO NET: A&M's total of 24 games vs. Quad 1 and 2 foes is tied for No. 1 among D1 schools with Auburn, Alabama, Illinois and Purdue. The Aggies' 15 victories vs. Q1/2 is tied for No. 5 behind Auburn (21), Alabama (17), Houston (17) and Florida (16). A&M is tied with Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
ZHU & 4: With a team-high 423 points, Zhuric Phelps has already logged his third straight season with at least 400 points, while Taylor is six points away from his third-straight 400-point season. As of 3/6, only Florida with Alijah Martin and Walter Clayton Jr. has two players with at least 400 points in three straight seasons among D1 schools.
ONE OF A KIND: Texas A&M is D1's only team ranked in the top 10 in total rebounds/G (No. 7, 40.8/G), offensive rebounds (No. 1, 16.1/G) and rebound margin (No. 5/ 8.9).
SUM OF PARTS: Texas A&M is one of three SEC teams averaging more than 40.0 rebounds/G for the full season (No. 3 with 40.8/G), and are doing it without any single player averaging at least 6.0/G. Among the 14 D1 teams averaging 40+ rebounds/G, Texas A&M and Tennessee State are only schools without a player averaging 6.0+ rebounds/G.
OFFENSIVE GLASS: Texas A&M leads the NCAA with an average of 16.1 offensive rebounds/G for the full season and leads the SEC with 15.4 o-rebounds/G in league games.
GUARD COMBOS UNDER BUZZ WILLIAMS
With six more points by Wade Taylor IV, the Aggies will have four straight seasons with two 400+ points guards on the roster.
- Prior to 2021-22, the Aggies had multiple 400-point guards on the same team just three times in program history, according to stathead.com - Kenny Brown and Don Marbury in 1984-85, Tony Milton and Lynn Suber in 1989-90 and Danuel House and Jalen Jones in 2015-16.
Last 4 Texas A&M guard combos
| Year | Players (Pts) |
| 2024-25 | Zhuric Phelps (423) | Wade Taylor IV (394)) |
| 2023-24 | Wade Taylor IV (687) | Tyrece Radford (510) |
| 2022-23 | Wade Taylor IV (572) | Tyrece Radford (464) |
| 2021-22 | Quenton Jackson (591) | Tyrece Radford (434) |
TREND BULLETS
- Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne ranks No. 1 nationally in FTA/G with 4.5/G among all D1 averaging fewer than 20:00 minutes/G.
- Despite allowing their last six opponents hit more than 41.0% of their FGA, including 50.0% by Auburn on Tuesday, the Aggies still rank No. 9 in KenPom.com's Adjusted Defensive Efficiency rating at 92.9, which is an estimate of the defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) a team would have against the average D-I offense.
- The Aggies average 6.0 more shots/game than their opponents in SEC play, which ranks No. 2 among league schools.
- A&M limits its league opponents to just 53.6 FGA/G, which is the lowest average in the conference by nearly 2.0 FGA/G over Vanderbilt (55.5).
- Over his past three games, Nebraska transfer CJ Wilcher is connecting on 45.5% of his 3-point shots. The sharpshooter has hit at least one 3-pointer in 11 of his last 13 games, while raising his season 3FG% to 41.5%, which is easily the best on the team.
- Wade Taylor IV is averaging 15.8 points over his last six games with three 18+ efforts and four games with at least four assists.
- Taylor ranks fourth in the SEC in 3-point attempts/G at 7.5. His 2.5 treys/G rank No. 11 among SEC players. He has attempted four or more 3-pointers in 58 straight games.
- Taylor has reached 10+ points in 25 of 26 games, and 15 or more 17 times, in 2024-25. He has 101 career games with 10+ points.
- A&M pounds the offensive glass for a NCAA-best 16.1 offensive rebounds/G, which allows the Aggies to average 5.2 more FGA than their opponent for the full season. In SEC play, the M&W average 15.4 OR/G and shoot 6.0 more balls than their league opponents.
- Six of Texas A&M's game results have been decided by three points or less (3-3 record) and 14 games have been within one-possession after the under 4:00 media timeout (9-5). (Tight games history on pg. 4)
- Texas A&M has earned 40+ rebounds in 17 games, while just allowing 40+ opponent rebounds just four times.
- In a bit of an oddity, the Aggies shoot better from beyond the arc away from Reed Arena (32.9% in 14 road/neutral) compared to 28.8% in 16 home games. Even weirder, the Aggies have made 34.4% from deep in nine true road games.
- The Aggies are 16-4 when hitting least 65% of their FTA and 5-5 when connecting on less than 65%. Similarly, the Aggies are 16-6 when they earn 20 or more FTA.
TV/RADIO
- 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. It is also available on SiriusXM on channel 81.
- The game will be broadcast on SEC Network with Richard Cross and Joe Kleine providing the description.