For No. 3 Florida and No. 12 Texas A&M, it’s not whether the Southeastern Conference foes will make the NCAA Tournament, it’s more about where they will be seeded.
When the Gators (24-4, 11-4 SEC) take on the Aggies (20-8, 9-6) on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., both teams will have a chance to enhance their resumes, which were damaged this week with losses to unranked teams.
While Florida is smarting from an 88-83 defeat Tuesday at Georgia, Texas A&M is reeling after its third straight loss, 86-84 at home to Vanderbilt on Wednesday.
“We have to figure out ways to improve because if you’re not improving this time of the year, it’s not status quo, you’re getting worse because other teams are improving,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said.
The last three losses for Texas A&M have borne the same earmarks.
In each of the games, including a 77-69 loss at home to then-No. 6 Tennessee and a 70-54 defeat at then-No. 21 Mississippi State, the Aggies won the battle of the boards by at least seven. But in each of the games, they also committed more turnovers and shot worse than their foes.
The most telling difference has been in 3-point shooting. While the Aggies have hit 20 of 75 (26.7 percent) from deep during the skid, they have surrendered 32 of 76 (42.1 percent) shooting from long range.
“We have to finish at the rim better,” Williams said.
He can’t blame 6-foot-9 Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne, who has made 13 of 18 shots during the losing streak, scoring 34 points and collecting 18 rebounds.
The Aggies need better work from their top two scorers. Wade Taylor IV missed all nine of his 3-point tries against Tennessee and Zhuric Phelps has made just 2 of 13 (15.4 percent) from deep and totaled twice as many turnovers (12) as assists (six) during the streak.
Texas A&M now faces a daunting task, playing two of the top three teams in the rankings. After Florida, the Aggies take on No. 1 Auburn on Tuesday.
The Gators were caught in a buzzsaw at Georgia as the hosts made 67.9 percent of their shots in the first half, including 7 of 9 from distance, as they built a 26-point lead.
Florida fought all the way back behind Will Richard, who scored 30 points. The Gators took the lead in the closing minutes but couldn’t sustain the momentum.
“We got caught up in the moment early, probably didn’t play with enough poise offensively,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.
It was the first rivalry win in seven attempts for former Florida coach Mike White since he took over at Georgia in 2022.
One positive note was the return of 6-foot-11 Alex Condon after he had missed two weeks with an ankle injury. He scored nine points off the bench.
There was little warning of a Gators’ letdown. The loss came after they had captured six straight, with all the wins coming by at least nine points. The streak included wins at No. 1 Auburn and then-No. 22 Mississippi State.
–Field Level Media
