Texas A&M @ South Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 18, 2020 ) South Carolina 81, Texas A&M 67

Life without Justin Minaya didn't begin well for South Carolina, which hosts Texas A&M on Saturday in an SEC game. The sparkplug forward, who missed Wednesday's 84-70 loss at Ole Miss, underwent thumb surgery Thursday morning and is out indefinitely as the Gamecocks must figure out how to survive without the heart and soul of their club.

“I feel like Justin helps us in every place,” South Carolina center Maik Kotsar told reporters. "Whether it’s rebounding, scoring, defense, whatever it might be, I feel like Justin does it all. And not having him around hurts us. But we got to be better. We got to make up for that.” The Gamecocks and Aggies are among four teams in a tie for fifth in the SEC with the top four clubs earning a double-bye in the conference tournament. Texas A&M is coming off a 68-51 victory over Missouri on Tuesday and is 5-5 in its last 10 games. South Carolina won the first meeting of the season 81-67 on Jan. 18 behind 16-of-30 shooting from 3-point range, and 19 points from Jair Bolden as the teams have split eight encounters since the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012.

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network

ABOUT TEXAS A&M (11-10, 5-4): Senior forward Josh Nebo paces the team in scoring (11.8 points per game), rebounds (6.9) and blocks (2.3), and in field goal percentage at 67.5 after scoring 18 against Missouri despite shooting 5-for-14 from the floor. Freshman forward Emanuel Miller on Tuesday had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double, raising his season averages to 5.8 points and 6.5 boards. Quenton Jackson (7.5 points) came off the bench to score a season-high 16 versus Missouri and has reached double figures in three of his last four contests.

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (13-9, 5-4): Freshman guard Jermaine Couisnard scored a career-high 28 points Wednesday and averages 16.1 in SEC games. Kotsar (10.2 points, team-high 6.6 rebounds) had 19 points and eight boards versus Ole Miss and is averaging 16.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last three games. A.J. Lawson averages a team-high 13.5 points despite scoring only five Wednesday after averaging 14 in his previous five contests.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Nebo is second among active players with 258 blocks - two behind Penn State senior Mike Watkins and six ahead of Central Arkansas junior Hayden Koval.

2. The Gamecocks are 10-3 when Bolden (9.3 points per game) scores in double figures.

3. The Aggies have allowed 65 points or fewer in each of their 11 victories.

PREDICTION: South Carolina 66, Texas A&M 61