SEC basketball hits primetime with a matchup between the #6 Tennessee Volunteers (17-5, 7-2 SEC) and the Texas A&M Aggies (14-8, 5-4 SEC) on Saturday night. Tennessee is coming off a strong home win over LSU, winning 88-68 and covering as 12.5-point favorites. Texas A&M just took care of business on the road, defeating Missouri 79-60 as 5.5-point road favorites. This is the first of two matchups between these teams this season. They only met once last season, with Texas A&M winning by five at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 EST from Reed Arena in College Station, Texas and can be found on ESPN.
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The Tennessee Volunteers certainly have the talent to be at the top of the SEC, but as of writing they are a half game back from the leaders in the conference. Tennessee has a 7-2 league record, while South Carolina, Auburn and Alabama are all at 8-2. Tennessee still has a real shot to win the regular season conference title, and proved their worthiness by defeating #10 Kentucky on the road two games ago. In their last game, Tennessee was led by Dalton Knecht with 27 points in the win over LSU.
18 PTS / 6-9 FG / 3 STL
JG wasted no time vs. LSU pic.twitter.com/aQtcB2PeQg
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 8, 2024
Knecht is second in the SEC in scoring with 20.2 PPG, trailing Mark Sears from Alabama by only a tenth of a point. He is a 6'8 senior guard and the top shooter on the team with 45 made threes while converting 39.1% of his attempts from deep. Knecht has scored 25 or more in seven of his last eight games, including a 39 point game against Florida. Jonas Aidoo is the top frontcourt player on the team, he is a 6'11, 240-pound junior averaging 11.5 PPG and 7.4 RPG on the inside. Their final scorer in double figures is 5'9 junior point guard Zakai Zeigler, he scores 10.8 PPG while leading the team with 5.5 APG. Josiah-Jordan James does a little of everything for the Volunteers, he is averaging 9.2 PPG and 6.5 RPG as a 6'6 senior forward.
Tennessee is currently ranked 6th overall according to KenPom. They rank 12th in offensive efficiency and 5th in defensive efficiency. They play at the 110th fastest tempo in the nation based on their pace of play. Tennessee is currently projected to be a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament in Bracketology.
Injury Report: None listed