COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M men's basketball team faces its second top 25 opponent of the season when the Aggies take on the No. 15 Auburn Tigers at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Neville Arena.
It will be back-to-back SEC road games for the Aggies, who faced Kentucky at Rupp on Saturday. The UK-AUB games are the Aggies' only back-to-back SEC road matchups in 2022-23.
In Texas A&M's previous bout with a top 25 foe, the Aggies handed then-No. 20 Missouri an 82-64 defeat at Reed Arena on Jan. 11. In the team's most recent road top 25 matchup, the Aggies defeated No. 25 Alabama, 87-71, on March 2, 2022.
The Aggies are 3-1 vs. Auburn during the Buzz Williams era. The two teams split last year with the then-No. 1 Tigers winning the regular season matchup, 75-58, at home and the Aggies emerging victorious, 67-62, at the SEC tournament in Tampa, Fla.
Auburn is a "mirror opponent" for the Aggies. The Tigers will be coming to Aggieland in about two weeks on Feb. 7.
Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Auburn, 13-6, including a 10-4 advantage since joining the SEC for the 2012-13 season.
TRENDS & STREAKS:
While Wade Taylor IV and Henry Coleman III are the team's overall scoring and rebounds leaders, respectively, transfers Julius Marble and Dexter Dennis have taken over as those stat leaders in SEC play. Marble, from Dallas via Michigan State, paces the Aggies with 15.0 points/g while Dennis, from Baker, La., via Wichita State, leads the way with 9.0 boards/g.
Marble is the only Aggie to score double-digit points in every SEC game, although Dennis is close with double figures in the last five SEC contests.
Texas A&M is the only team that hasn't allowed 30 or more FIRST HALF points in SEC play. The last opponent with 30+ points vs. the Aggies in the initial stanza was Prairie View A&M with 32 on Dec. 30, 2022.
The Aggies are allowing an average of 21.7 first-half points in SEC play, while limiting opponents to 27.3% FG-FGA / 22.1% 3FG-3FGA in the first stanza.
Texas A&M ranks No. 2 in scoring defense in SEC play, allowing an average of 60.7 points/g. The Aggies have lopped nearly 10 full points off their average vs. non-conference opponents (70.4) to SEC foes (60.7).
The Aggies have been perfect on free throw attempts in the past two games, making 23 straight freebies.
