Vanderbilt @ Texas A&M preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2018 ) Texas A&M 89, Vanderbilt 81

Texas A&M will be without its third-leading scorer for the rest of the season as it hosts struggling Vanderbilt on Saturday in an SEC game. Aggies' sophomore guard TJ Starks suffered a dislocated right shoulder in Tuesday's 66-55 setback at No. 14 LSU after Texas A&M had built some momentum by winning four of its previous five contests.

Vanderbilt is coming off a 71-55 loss to Florida on Wednesday for its school-record 16th consecutive setback as it tries to avoid becoming the first SEC team to go winless in conference play since Georgia Tech finished 0-14 in 1953-54. The Commodores, who have never won fewer than two SEC games in a season, will match their school record of 20 losses set in 2017-18 with one more setback. “It’s obviously absolutely miserable to go through,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew told reporters. “I think I kinda compare it to Mt. Everest - for two years you’ve been here, you’re working, you’re working, you’re working, you’re working and you get near the top and you kinda gotta go back down and reboot a little bit. That’s what we’re doing right now.” Vanderbilt lost freshman guard Darius Garland in the fifth game to a knee injury and the former blue chip recruit has already hired an agent and declared for the NBA draft.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-19, 0-15 SEC): Sophomore guard Saben Lee (12.8 points, 3.9 assists, 3.5 rebounds per game) leads the team in scoring after recording 15 points versus Florida after not reaching double figures in his previous four contests. Forward Simisola Shittu (11.5 points) averages a team-high 6.8 rebounds that also paces conference freshman after totaling 22 in his last three games. Freshman forward Aaron Nesmith (11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds) averages a team-best 14.4 points in SEC contests.

ABOUT TEXAS A&M (12-15, 5-10): Junior guard Wendell Mitchell (club-high 13.4 points) scores a team-best 15.3 in SEC games, averaging 18 in his past four contests. Sophomore guard Savion Flagg, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, contributes 12.4 points and a club-most 7.6 rebounds but was held to three points and five boards versus LSU after averaging 21.3 and 8.3 in his previous three games. Junior forward Josh Nebo (8.4, 5.9 rebounds) leads the conference at 2.5 blocks per game after recording five Tuesday - his 13th game this season with at least three.

TIP-INS

1. The Aggies will honor four seniors - G Frank Byers, G Chris Collins, G Admon Gilder and F Christian Mekowulu - prior to the game. Gilder did not play in 2018-19 after a blood clot was discovered in his right arm during the preseason.

2. The Commodores are one of three teams (UNLV, Princeton) to have made a 3-point field goal in every game since the inception of the shot in the 1986-87 season.

3. Texas A&M snapped a three-game losing streak in the series (Vanderbilt 8-3) with an 89-81 victory in the last meeting Feb. 24, 2018.

PREDICTION: Texas A&M 74, Vanderbilt 67