After falling to rival Texas in the final seconds of Saturday’s road matchup, Texas A&M (15-5, 4-3 SEC) kept its No. 13 ranking in the latest AP Top 25 update. The Aggies are in a great position heading into week 13, set to host Oklahoma on Tuesday night.
Tied with five teams in the SEC standings at 4-3, coach Buzz Williams took full blame for A&M’s 70-69 loss to the Longhorns, knowing that after building a 22-point lead in the second half, allowing the home team to storm back, including freshman guard Tre Johnson’s career-high 30 points, fell at his feet.
Sustaining significant leads has been an issue for the Aggies this season. While they were able to hang on in all but two games during nonconference play, Saturday’s loss is a lesson for a team that needs to keep its foot on the gas when large leads are built.
Oklahoma finished 2-0 last week, defeating South Carolina and Arkansas, the worst teams in the conference. Still, the Aggies know that the Sooners are a skilled team with plenty of talent looking to earn an SEC road win after Texas A&M defeated Oklahoma 80-78 behind senior guard Zhuric Phelps‘ heroic performance.
Before the game, here is how ESPN FPI is predicting the matchup:
ESPN FPI:
Texas A&M: 79.4% chance to win
Oklahoma: 20.6% chance to win
Texas A&M is a significant improvement home favorite, only losing one home game all season after falling to Alabama earlier this month. However, replicating their first-half performance against Texas is key, even though that is highly unlikely given the Aggies’ lack of offensive consistency.
Texas A&M will return to Reed Arena to host Oklahoma on Jan. 28 at 8:00 p.m. CST. The game can be watched on the SEC Network.
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