The Texas A&M men’s basketball concludes a two-game road swing Saturday when the Aggies travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to face No. 24 Tennessee inside Thompson–Boling Arena at 5 p.m. (CT).
The contest will be televised on SEC Network with Kevin Fitzgerald calling the play-by-play action and Sean Harrington providing commentary. Additionally, radio coverage will be available on the Aggie Sports Network, which can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW (1620 AM).
The Aggies (11-5, 0-4 SEC) will be facing their second straight nationally-ranked opponent on the road after dropping a 74-73 decision to No. 21 Kentucky in Lexington on Tuesday. Texas A&M was led in the contest by 21 points from steady junior Tyler Davis as the SEC’s field goal percentage leader made 8-of-10 shots from the field. It stood out as the ninth career 20-point game for Davis, who leads the Aggies in scoring this season at 14.6 points per game. Also against the Wildcats, junior Admon Gilder made his much-anticipated return to the court after missing the previous five games with a knee injury suffered in late December. The Dallas native contributed 14 points in 35 minutes in the contest.
After playing short-handed for much of the last month, the Aggies are also expected to regain the services of graduate transfer Duane Wilson in the coming days. The Marquette transfer has missed the Aggies’ most recent three games following a knee injury suffered Dec. 30 at Alabama.
Under the direction of third-year head coach Rick Barnes, Tennessee (11-4, 2-2 SEC) is ranked No. 15 in the NCAA RPI and owns the nation’s third-rated strength of schedule according to ESPN. Barnes is well familiar with the Aggies, as the former University of Texas coach has faced Texas A&M 34 times during his career as a head coach, compiling a 26-8 (.765) record.
The Vols are led by sophomore forward Grant Williams, who paces the SEC in scoring during league games at 22.3 points per game. Williams’ 37 points during Tuesday win at Vanderbilt were the most by a Vol since Ron Slay scored 38 vs. New Mexico on Jan. 4, 2003.
