Vanderbilt @ Texas A&M preview
Bridgestone Arena
Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) Vanderbilt 57, Texas A&M 64
After turning things around in the second half of the SEC season, No. 11 seed Texas A&M hopes to begin a surprising run through the SEC tournament Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. The Aggies open the tournament against No. 14 seed Vanderbilt, which is still looking for its first victory of 2019.
The Aggies lost eight of their first nine SEC games before rattling off five wins in seven games, including a 64-57 home victory over Vanderbilt on March 2. Texas A&M’s hot streak faded following the win over the Commodores, and the Aggies lost their final two regular-season contests to South Carolina (71-54) and at Mississippi State (92-81). The Commodores went 0-18 in SEC play and have lost 19 straight dating to Dec. 31, including a pair of lopsided defeats to close the regular season. Ten of Vanderbilt’s 19 consecutive losses have come by 10 points or fewer, but the Commodores were clobbered by Arkansas (84-48) and LSU (80-59) in their last two contests.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network
ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-22): The Commodores are one of the youngest teams in the nation, and their season was doomed when they lost star freshman Darius Garland to a season-ending injury after five games. In his absence, Vanderbilt wants the ball in the hands of sophomore guard Saben Lee (12.5 points, 3.9 assists) and freshman forwards Simisola Shittu (11.1 points, 6.8 rebounds) and Aaron Nesmith (11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds). Shittu had a rough game against LSU with three points on 0-of-6 shooting, but posted a double-double in the first meeting with the Aggies.
ABOUT TEXAS A&M (13-17): The Aggies also took a hit because of injury when they lost guard TJ Starks on Jan. 30, leaving them with only seven scholarship players. Texas A&M doesn’t have a ton of size inside, but Savion Flagg (13.1 points, 7.7 rebounds) and Christian Mekowulu (8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in the first meeting with Vanderbilt. Guard Wendell Mitchell (13.5 points) led the Aggies in scoring in SEC play, and reserve guard Jay Jay Chandler (8.1 points) has scored in double digits in back-to-back games.
TIP-INS
1. Flagg has five double-doubles this season, including two in the past three games.
2. Texas A&M F Josh Nebo leads the SEC and ranks 11th nationally with 2.4 blocks per game.
3. Vanderbilt is one of three teams (UNLV, Princeton) who have made a 3-pointer in every game since the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87, a span of 1,062 consecutive contests.
PREDICTION: Texas A&M 72, Vanderbilt 69