Preview and Gamethread: Arkansas vs. Texas A&M

Time: 5:00 p.m. CT

TV: SEC Network

Line:

Location: Reed Arena, College Station

There have been surprises both good and bad, but a 9-3 record heading into SEC play is close to what most expected for this young team. Now they head into a winnable game against Texas A&M but one that’s definitely not a gimmie.

Hog fans should remember TJ Starks, who as a freshman scored 16 points, making 4/5 threes in their win against Arkansas. In the second matchup of 2018, The Hogs held him to 12 on a more inefficient 4/9 shooting and were able to win. He’s their leading scorer this year and will be the key figure for the Hogs to shut down.

In the post, they’re replacing Tyler Davis and Robert Williams with Savion Flagg and Christian Mekowulu. They’re the other two Aggies averaging double figures and Arkansas will need Daniel Gafford and the combination of Adrio Bailey and Reggie Chaney to win that matchup.

A huge part of this game is going to be three point shooting. Texas A&M has shot a dreadful 29% from outside this year, and has only made 68 threes as a team, for reference Isaiah Joe has made 46 by himself. If Arkansas limits their outside shooting, they should win. The Aggies are 4-1 this year when shooting over 30% from deep, when they shoot under that mark they’re 2-4 and those wins were against Savannah State and Northwestern State, two of the worst teams in Division 1.

In the post both teams go all out for blocks, which can affect a lot of shots, but also allows for teams to get a lot of offensive rebounds. Both teams reflect that with really similar block rates and offensive rebounds allowed. The secondary key in this one is getting active on the offensive boards.