Ole Miss Takes on Texas A&M in Aggieland

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team travels to College Station, Texas on Tuesday to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Ole Miss (9-5, 1-1 SEC) is coming off an 82-72 win over in-state rival Mississippi State on Saturday. The Rebels were led on the court by Matthew Murrell with a career-high 31 points.

Murrell went 5-for-5 from beyond the arc against Mississippi State.

Ole Miss has found its stroke from three-ball land again just in time for conference play. The Rebels lead all SEC schools in three-point shooting in conference action thus far with a 22-of-45 (.489) line, setting up an intriguing matchup against the current No. 2 in SEC play, Texas A&M at 19-of-42 (.452). Ole Miss has hit double-digit threes in each of its first two games of SEC season, going 11-of-22 at No. 18 Tennessee in a near-upset thriller that went into overtime before an 11-of-23 performance against in-state rival Mississippi State on Jan. 8.

Texas A&M (13-2, 2-0 SEC) enters the contest following a dramatic opening victory over Georgia on Jan. 4 (81-79) and a win over Arkansas on Jan. 8 (86-81). The Aggies hold a NET ranking of 60, and hold notable non-conference wins over Butler (57-50), Notre Dame (73-67) and Oregon State (83-73), with Power-5 losses to Wisconsin (69-58) and TCU (69-64).

The Aggies hold a potent three-point shooting attach that leads the SEC and ranks 22nd nationally at 38.7 percent, alongside an overall shooting percentage of 47.0 that ranks third in the SEC. Texas A&M also has a powerful ball-hawk defensive unit that leads the SEC in turnovers forced per game at 19.1 (No. 6 NCAA) and second in the SEC in steals per game at 10.9 (No. 6 NCAA), helping the Aggies to the NCAA’s No. 8 turnover margin at +5.9 per game (No. 2 SEC). Texas A&M also ranks third in the conference in total free throws attempted (306) and fifth in scoring margin (+13.6 PPG).

Leading the way for the Aggies is Quenton Jackson, who has come off the bench in all 15 games played by leads Texas A&M with 13.5 points per game and an 85.7 percent clip from the free-throw line. Four Aggies have hit 20 or more threes this season, with Marcus Williams (10.5 PPG) and Andre Gordon (8.5 PPG) tied for the team lead with 24. The duo is also tied for the team lead in steals with 25 apiece.

The two teams will be meeting for the 12th all-time meeting between the Rebels and the Aggies and the 11th meeting since the Aggies joined the SEC in the 2012-13 season. Texas A&M holds a 7-4 advantage over Ole Miss. Under Kermit Davis at the helm, Ole Miss is 2-1 against the Aggies.