Aggies Struggling
Texas A&M has never had success in the Big 12 tournament, exemplified by its first-round loss to Oklahoma State last season. Now, the Aggies’ struggles in conference play are extending to the regular season.
Having lost three straight, No. 18 Texas A&M looks to avenge last season’s defeat to Oklahoma State when the teams meet Saturday.
Oddsmakers from Bodog have made Texas A&M -1.5 point spread favorites (View College Basketball odds) for today’s game (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 62% of bets for this game have been placed on Texas A&M -1.5 (View College Basketball bet percentages).
In 2006-07, Texas A&M (15-4, 1-3) won both of its games against Oklahoma State (10-8, 1-3) in the regular season before losing 57-56 to the Cowboys in the first round of the Big 12 tournament on March 9. The Aggies were ranked seventh at the time, and the loss knocked them out of contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
It also dropped A&M to 1-11 all-time in the Big 12 tournament’s 11-year history. The Aggies went 13-3 versus conference opponents in the 2006-07 regular season.
After three straight losses in Big 12 play this season, Texas A&M may be in danger of falling out of the Top 25. This is the first time the Aggies have lost three in a row since 2005-06, when they also started 1-3 in Big 12 competition before winning their next eight.
But it may be tough for A&M to bounce back from its latest loss, a 116-110 five-overtime defeat to No. 25 Baylor on Wednesday night. With little bench help, the Aggies had three starters play at least 56 minutes.
Bryan Davis, who led A&M with a career-high 30 points while grabbing 14 rebounds, made a layup with 9 seconds left in the fourth overtime to tie the game at 99 and force a fifth OT. It was just the second start of Davis’ career.
It took one overtime, but the Aggies allowed 80 points for the first time this season.
Despite 116 points allowed, Texas A&M still ranks among the country’s top teams in scoring defense at 62.1 per game, just behind last season’s school-record 59.4. The Aggies are holding opponents to 37.6 percent from the field.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, lost its last game despite one of its best defensive efforts of the season, holding No. 12 Texas to 41.2 percent shooting in a 63-61 defeat Monday night.
The Cowboys lost for the first time in 10 home games, and have dropped three straight Big 12 contests since beating Texas Tech 74-55 on Jan. 12 in their conference opener. Oklahoma State’s strong play on defense against Texas, however, gives it something to build on.
"We’re playing a lot better on defense," Cowboys forward Marcus Dove said. "We’re holding teams below their point average for the season. … We just need to play smart, offensively and defensively. We can’t gamble like we do sometimes, we can’t turn the ball over."
Oklahoma State ranks 11th in the Big 12 with 16.5 turnovers a contest.
Cowboys freshman James Anderson finished with 17 points and did not commit a turnover against Texas. The 6-foot-6 guard leads the team with 15.6 points per game.
Anderson is one of three players averaging double digits in scoring for Oklahoma State, but the team’s depth has taken a hit with forward Anthony Brown out indefinitely with a shoulder injury. Brown missed two games last month with a knee injury and has played a total of 4 minutes in three games since then, also missing two other games.
Brown, averaging 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds, has started three times since transferring to Oklahoma State this season from Carl Albert State College.
The Cowboys lead the all-time series with the Aggies 27-11.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
More NCAA College Basketball Coverage from theSpread.com
– NCAA College Basketball teams
– NCAA College Basketball standings
– NCAA College Basketball schedule
– NCAA College Basketball scoreboard
– NCAA College Basketball injuries
– NCAA College Basketball matchups
– NCAA College Basketball stats
– NCAA College Basketball odds
– NCAA College Basketball public betting chart
– NCAA College Basketball news wire
– NCAA College Basketball top stories
– NCAA College Basketball trends
– AccuScore NCAA College Basketball predictions
– Expert NCAA College Basketball picks
– Comments and discussion
– Signup for theSpread.com daily newsletter
– NCAA College Basketball Home
