Saturday, January 15, 2011

Texas A&M

One of the early season surprises has been the Texas A&m Aggies who have a home date today against the Missouri Tigers. The Aggies have won 12 straight games. They were projected as a middle of the pack Big 12 team but now sit #14 in the AP.

The Aggies have a RPI of 20 with a middling 97 SOS. Non-conference wins of note include a neutral court win over Temple and a home win against Washington. Their only loss to date was a neutral court loss to BC (#30 RPI, 13-4).

Am's forte is defense. They are 5th in scoring defense and 11th in FG% defense. And they rebound. They're 3rd in the nation in rebound margin. The Aggies are 103rd in the nation in scoring but that's somewhat misleading as they average 73 PPg while only giving up 55, a healthy margin. They are deficient from behind the arc, ranking 213 in makes and 142nd in % made. They're adequate from the charity stripe making 72.5%, good for 62nd in the nation.

KenPom likes the defense, 17th AjdD while offensively, they're outside the magical top 20, sitting at 37th in AdjO.

This will be an interesting game as we know Missouri likes to push tempo. This'll probably give a better gauge of just how good A&M is. They should remain a Big 12 contender with their defense and rebounding ability but let's see if they have enough offense to win games against dynamic offensive teams like Missouri and Kansas.

EDIT: Yes, the offense was dynamic enough at home today

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