Texas A&M will be looking to bounce back from a loss at Kentucky when it travels to No. 15 Auburn on Wednesday night. The Aggies had won seven consecutive games prior to their loss to the Wildcats. Auburn is trying to extend its five-game winning streak and stay near the top of the SEC standings.
Texas A&M was a team with high expectations coming into this season, but it went just 6-5 through its first 11 games. The Aggies suffered surprising losses to Murray State and Wofford to go along with setbacks against Colorado, Boise State and Memphis. They wrapped up the early non-conference portion of their schedule with wins against Northwestern State and Prairie View A&M to kickstart a seven-game winning streak. Texas A&M added five SEC wins after that, including a win over then-No. 20 Missouri. The Aggies had that winning streak snapped in a 76-67 loss at Kentucky on Saturday as 5-point underdogs.
the work continues today.
heading to Auburn this evening.
??? pic.twitter.com/WCVv8ETfXs— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 24, 2023
Sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV leads Texas A&M with 14.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. Tyrece Radford (12.7) and Julius Marble (10.0) are both scoring in double figures as well. They lead an offense that ranks No. 43 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency ratings. Texas A&M’s strength has been in the paint, as it is shooting 52.6% from 2-point range and has the No. 11 offensive rebounding percentage in the country. The Aggies are facing an Auburn defense that is No. 10 in adjusted efficiency, No. 5 in effective field goal percentage (42.6) and No. 2 in 3-point defense (25.1). It is going to be tough for Texas A&M to have much success from the perimeter, as it ranks No. 291 in 3-point shooting (31.5).