Opponent: arkansas (15-9, 4-7)
Time: 11:00am
Date: February 16
Location: The luxurious and lavish Reed Arena
TV: ESPN
Game Quadrant: Quad 2
Opponent NET: 41
Opponent KenPom: 41
Opponent Offensive / Defensive Rating: 82/24
Spread: Texas A&M -8.5
Stats: https://12thman.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Valentine's Day go a little rough… long wait at the restaurant, significant other not happy, inflation make the day worse, it's okay, Aggie Basketball is here to cheer you up. There is less than 2 weeks till March. Yes that's right, in less than two weeks that calendar will say March. The madness is near. This is my message to you to be thankful that we are far far from the bubble this year. No longer must we wait to see to see Lunardi's list of first four in, last four in, next four out, and whatever grouping of 4 they call these teams nowadays. Let's enjoy this stretch. We've built a hell of a resume and tomorrow at 11:30 during our game, we'll see where the NCAA Tournament Committee seeds its top 16 teams.
But, tourney aside, bracket aside, projections aside, today we have a battle with an unpredictable but talented Arkansas team. We have an early game at 11am on ESPN! Their record doesn't reflect the talent they have. Coach Cal left Kentucky for Arkansas in a shocking move in the off season after many tourney flops with top recruiting classes. He has all the talent in the world again, he brought over guys from Kentucky and he brought some talent from the portal. February has been kinder to the piggies as they have wins over Kentucky, tu, and LSU, and a 4 point loss to Alabama. However, in January they got whooped badly and were far from being a tournament team.
Arkansas is led by a talented front court of #3 Adou Thiero, their leading scorer at 16 a game and #44 Zvonimir Ivisic or "Big Z" who's been on a tear lately. The latter is a 7'2 night man who can shoot the 3 ball at a 44% clip. Us containing this duo with pesky defense or hopefully getting them into foul trouble, will be the key to winning the game. Thiero does struggle with fouls so hopefully Payne and Coleman can go at him early! I feel like Buzz is going to allow Z to shoot 3's because it'll keep him out of the paint! Arkansas does like to fire up a lot of threes. Although guard Boogie Fland is out for the season, they have thrived with Dj Wagner controlling the offense along with Johnell Davis who both average over 30 minutes a game.
Our team was excellent in dominating Georgia in the second half. That defense will give us a chance to win against any team in the country. It's the empty possession on offense due to turnovers or bad shots that help teams stay in games with us. If we do a better job or protecting the ball and getting easier baskets or to the free throw line, we are almost unstoppable. Hopefully we can have a strong 3 point shooting game, but I wanna see us get to the free throw line! I also love the work we're doing with Andy dishing the ball from the top of the key. This either frees up someone on the baseline or allows Taylor and Phelps to get open up top. How's the time of year to find some rhythm offensively!
The spread in this game is extremely high, Vegas has more confidence in us than most Ags do! There's a reason we're a top ten team and in contention for a 2 seed! Arkansas is erratic. We can either come out focused and crush them by 20 or their size and talent will keep them in a one or two possession game. They are fighting to get a tournament spot, so they'll come out swinging! Let's get Reed Rockin and show them what a top sec team is! Big A, Big B, Big C, Big Z, give me the Aggies!!!
Time: 11:00am
Date: February 16
Location: The luxurious and lavish Reed Arena
TV: ESPN
Game Quadrant: Quad 2
Opponent NET: 41
Opponent KenPom: 41
Opponent Offensive / Defensive Rating: 82/24
Spread: Texas A&M -8.5
Stats: https://12thman.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Valentine's Day go a little rough… long wait at the restaurant, significant other not happy, inflation make the day worse, it's okay, Aggie Basketball is here to cheer you up. There is less than 2 weeks till March. Yes that's right, in less than two weeks that calendar will say March. The madness is near. This is my message to you to be thankful that we are far far from the bubble this year. No longer must we wait to see to see Lunardi's list of first four in, last four in, next four out, and whatever grouping of 4 they call these teams nowadays. Let's enjoy this stretch. We've built a hell of a resume and tomorrow at 11:30 during our game, we'll see where the NCAA Tournament Committee seeds its top 16 teams.
But, tourney aside, bracket aside, projections aside, today we have a battle with an unpredictable but talented Arkansas team. We have an early game at 11am on ESPN! Their record doesn't reflect the talent they have. Coach Cal left Kentucky for Arkansas in a shocking move in the off season after many tourney flops with top recruiting classes. He has all the talent in the world again, he brought over guys from Kentucky and he brought some talent from the portal. February has been kinder to the piggies as they have wins over Kentucky, tu, and LSU, and a 4 point loss to Alabama. However, in January they got whooped badly and were far from being a tournament team.
Arkansas is led by a talented front court of #3 Adou Thiero, their leading scorer at 16 a game and #44 Zvonimir Ivisic or "Big Z" who's been on a tear lately. The latter is a 7'2 night man who can shoot the 3 ball at a 44% clip. Us containing this duo with pesky defense or hopefully getting them into foul trouble, will be the key to winning the game. Thiero does struggle with fouls so hopefully Payne and Coleman can go at him early! I feel like Buzz is going to allow Z to shoot 3's because it'll keep him out of the paint! Arkansas does like to fire up a lot of threes. Although guard Boogie Fland is out for the season, they have thrived with Dj Wagner controlling the offense along with Johnell Davis who both average over 30 minutes a game.
Our team was excellent in dominating Georgia in the second half. That defense will give us a chance to win against any team in the country. It's the empty possession on offense due to turnovers or bad shots that help teams stay in games with us. If we do a better job or protecting the ball and getting easier baskets or to the free throw line, we are almost unstoppable. Hopefully we can have a strong 3 point shooting game, but I wanna see us get to the free throw line! I also love the work we're doing with Andy dishing the ball from the top of the key. This either frees up someone on the baseline or allows Taylor and Phelps to get open up top. How's the time of year to find some rhythm offensively!
The spread in this game is extremely high, Vegas has more confidence in us than most Ags do! There's a reason we're a top ten team and in contention for a 2 seed! Arkansas is erratic. We can either come out focused and crush them by 20 or their size and talent will keep them in a one or two possession game. They are fighting to get a tournament spot, so they'll come out swinging! Let's get Reed Rockin and show them what a top sec team is! Big A, Big B, Big C, Big Z, give me the Aggies!!!
