SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: LSU at Texas A&M

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LSU visits Texas A&M on Tuesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
LSU	0.484	0.307	0.745	179	588	197	107	71	201
LSU OPP	0.398	0.331	0.737	166	497	180	99	43	208
Texas A&M	0.399	0.238	0.678	132	495	150	93	52	207
Texas A&M OPP	0.376	0.279	0.697	152	488	177	97	36	196

Statistical Leaders

LSU Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Skylar Mays	LSU	15.8	83	50	21
Emmitt Williams	LSU	13.4	77	43	4
Trendon Watford	LSU	12.7	70	42	8
Darius Days	LSU	12.3	69	28	18
Javonte Smart	LSU	10.7	59	25	18
Charles Manning Jr.	LSU	8.5	53	12	9
Aundre Hyatt	LSU	1.7	9	2	5

LSU Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Darius Days	LSU	48	80	128	8.5
Emmitt Williams	LSU	39	62	101	6.7
Trendon Watford	LSU	31	65	96	6.4
Skylar Mays	LSU	8	61	69	4.6
Javonte Smart	LSU	11	40	51	3.4
Charles Manning Jr.	LSU	9	39	48	3.2
Aundre Hyatt	LSU	5	23	28	1.9
Marlon Taylor	LSU	2	13	15	2.5
Courtese Cooper	LSU	4	8	12	2.0
James Bishop	LSU	1	2	3	0.3
Marshall Graves	LSU	0	3	3	0.4

Texas A&M Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Josh Nebo	Texas A&M	11.5	53	43	0
Savion Flagg	Texas A&M	10.9	57	19	20
Andre Gordon	Texas A&M	7.4	36	10	7
Wendell Mitchell	Texas A&M	7.4	31	26	15
Jay Jay Chandler	Texas A&M	7.1	28	31	13
Quenton Jackson	Texas A&M	6.2	26	29	6
Emanuel Miller	Texas A&M	4.5	26	11	0
Yavuz Gultekin	Texas A&M	2.3	10	5	0
Mark French	Texas A&M	2.2	10	5	6
Jonathan Aku	Texas A&M	1.4	8	4	0

Texas A&M Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Josh Nebo	Texas A&M	38	63	101	7.8
Emanuel Miller	Texas A&M	22	63	85	6.1
Savion Flagg	Texas A&M	18	49	67	4.8
Wendell Mitchell	Texas A&M	3	39	42	3.0
Quenton Jackson	Texas A&M	7	32	39	2.8
Jonathan Aku	Texas A&M	13	22	35	2.5
Jay Jay Chandler	Texas A&M	6	28	34	2.4
Andre Gordon	Texas A&M	4	26	30	2.5
Yavuz Gultekin	Texas A&M	7	16	23	2.1
Mark French	Texas A&M	1	12	13	0.9

NCAA RPI

LSU: 28

Texas A&M: 118

LSU Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Darius Days	F	6′-6″	240	SO	Raleigh, FL
1	Javonte Smart	G	6′-4″	205	SO	Baton Rouge, LA
2	Trendon Watford	F	6′-9″	235	FR	Birmingham, AL
3	Parker Edwards	G	6′-3″	190	SO	Mandeville, LA
4	Skylar Mays	G	6′-4″	205	SR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	Emmitt Williams	F	6′-6″	230	SO	Fort Myers, FL
10	James Bishop	G	6′-2″	190	FR	Baltimore, MD
11	Charles Manning Jr.	G	6′-5″	200	JR	Riverhead, NY
12	Marshall Graves	G	6′-4″	195	SR	Ponchatoula, LA
14	Marlon Taylor	G	6′-5″	210	SR	Mount Vernon, NY
15	Aundre Hyatt	F	6′-4″	225	FR	Bronx, NY
20	Caleb Starks	G	6′-3″	205	JR	Lafayette, LA
21	Courtese Cooper	F	6′-9″	220	SO	Elgin, IL
24	Deshawn Thomas	C	6′-9″	250	JR	Dentsville, SC

Texas A&M Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Jay Jay Chandler	G	6′-4″	180	JR	Katy, TX
1	Savion Flagg	G	6′-7″	223	JR	Alvin, TX
2	TJ Starks	G	6′-2″	208	JR	Dallas, TX
3	Quenton Jackson	G	6′-5″	171	JR	Los Angeles, CA
5	Emanuel Miller	F	6′-7″	213	FR	Scarborough, ON
10	Everett Vaughn	F	6′-10″	237	FR	Bellaire, TX
11	Wendell Mitchell	G	6′-3″	183	SR	Rockdale, TX
12	Mark French	G	5′-8″	162	SR	Frisco, TX
13	Cashius McNeilly	G	6′-4″	191	FR	Scarborough, ON
15	Jonathan Aku	F	6′-10″	245	FR	McKinney , TX
20	Andre Gordon	G	6′-2″	185	FR	Sidney, OH
21	Zach Walker	G	6′-4″	195	SO	Deer Park, TX
25	Bakari Simmons	F	6′-4″	210	FR	Chicago, IL
31	Luke McGhee	F	6′-10″	250	SO	San Antonio, TX
32	Josh Nebo	F	6′-9″	245	SR	Houston, TX
35	Yavuz Gultekin	F	6′-7″	201	FR	Cumberland, MD

Scouting Report

LSU (11-4, 3-0 SEC) defeated Mississippi State 60-59 on Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Tigers built a 23-12 lead with 7:07 remaining in the first half and would head to halftime leading 30-22. In the second half the Bulldogs slowly cut into the Tigers lead. With 14:22 remaining a Nick Weatherspoon dunk put the Bulldogs on top 36-35. The lead then changed hands several times before State built a 53-44 lead with 5:19 to play. LSU then went on a 13-2 run to take a 57-55 lead with just over a minute to play. State’s Reggie Perry made a layup with 6 seconds to play to put State up 59-58 but LSU Sklar Mays’ jumper with one second to play gave LSU the victory. Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14. Tiger forward Emmitt Williams paced the Tigers and led all scorers with 17 points. Both teams struggled from 3-point range with LSU making just 3 of 17 and State hitting only 2 of 21 attempts.

Skylar Mays leads the Tigers in scoring (15.8 ppg). Emmit Williams (13.4 ppg) and Watford (12.7 ppg) are the next two leading scorers. Mays is hitting 39% of his 3-point shots and 85% of his free throws. LSU is third in the SEC in scoring offense (79.3 ppg) and 11th in the conference in scoring defense (67.5 ppg). The Tigers are shooting over 74% at the line as a team. LSU is No. 1 in the SEC in field goal percentage (48.4%). The Tigers are also third in the conference in rebounding margin (+6.1).

Texas A&M (8-6, 2-1 SEC) dominated Vanderbilt 69-50 on Saturday in Nashville. The Aggies controlled this game from the start and quickly built 28-12 early in the first half. From then on Vandy drew to with 16 of A&M but could not keep the momentum. The Commodores trailed 60-29 with just under nine minutes to play. After Texas A&M cleared their benches Vandy was able to make the game a little closer. Andre Gordon had 15 points to lead the Aggies. Vandy was led in scoring by guard Maxwell Evans and center Ejike Obinna with 12 points each. A&M out-shot Vanderbilt 53%-30% from the field and 31%-17% from 3-point range. The Aggies also dominated Vandy on the boards 38-29.

Forward Josh Nebo leads the Aggies in scoring (11.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). Six-foot-7 guard Savion Flagg is the team’s second leading scorer (10.9). A&M’s biggest strength is its defense. The Aggies currently limit opponents to just 59.6 points a game. That’s third best in the SEC. Texas A&M is first in the conference in field goal defense (37.6%) and second in 3-point defense (28.9%). The Aggies, however, are last in the SEC in scoring offense scoring just 58.6 points a contest. They are 14th in the league in both field goal accuracy (39.9%) and 14th in 3-point accuracy (23.8%). The Aggies rank at or near the bottom of the SEC in most of the other SEC statistical categories.

This will be an interesting game with LSU’s high powered offense going against A&M’s tough defense. I give the Tigers the edge. They’ve played a tougher schedule so far and should be able to pull off a road win in College Station.

LSU-Texas A&M Prediction

LSU 68, Texas A&M 63

Tuesday‘s game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network.