Texas A&M (15-6, 7-1 SEC) has answered the call week to week during SEC play, with only one blemish on their conference record after a close road loss to Kentucky, the Aggies have reeled off two consecutive wins since, first ending Auburnβs 28-game home winning streak after defeating the Tigers 79-63 on Wednesday, followed up with a close 72-66 home victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday night.
Whatβs their reward after a successful week? a visit to one of the most intimidating venues in college basketball, Bud Walton Arena, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks. This is the first meeting for one of Texas A&Mβs numerous SEC mirror opponents, as the Razorbacks are coming off a disappointing 67-64 road loss to the 17th-ranked Baylor in the annual SEC-Big 12 weekend.
Arkansas hasnβt been on their preferred trajectory since the start of conference play, sitting at 14-7 and a disappointing 3-5 in the SEC standings, while still feeling the brunt of losing Missouri transfer Trevon Brazille in December for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, as well as freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. for an undetermined length of time.
Despite their many flaws, Head coach Eric Musselman is one of the premier leaders in the conference and has put his faith in junior star guard Ricky Council IV who leads the teams with 17.2 ppg, scoring 25 in the loss to the Bears, paired with former 5-Star guard Anthony Black, whoβs averaging 12.6 ppg, and 5.3 rebounds so far this season. As a team, Arkansas shoots an efficient 47.3% from the field.
Arkansasβs last two SEC wins came against LSU and Ole Miss, who are both 1-7 in the SEC, so letβs just say that the battle-tested Aggies will be anything but intimidated before facing the Razorbacks, especially after silencing the crowd inside Neville Arena on Wednesday night. Texas A&Mβs close win against Vanderbilt is hopefully a mild wake-up call after their lackadaisical first-half performance, as they need to bring their A-game on offense if upsetting Arkansas is in their future plans because we all know that defense travels.
After Henry Colemanβs strong 18-point performance against the Commodores, the junior big man is starting to find his rhythm near the rim, which is hopefully an ongoing trend heading into Tuesday night. The Aggies are 4-2 on the road this season in the SEC, showing that even in the most raucous environments, blocking out the noise and finding a way to win is simply engrained in their…
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