Texas A&M will look for its fourth straight win on Saturday when it faces Boise State in the Battleground 2k22 at Fort Worth, Texas.

The Aggies (5-2) have answered a modest two-game skid with 16-point victories over Loyola-Chicago and DePaul, as well as a 19-point win over SMU on Wednesday.

Henry Coleman made 10 of 18 shots from the field to finish with a season-high 23 points and fuel Texas A&M past the Mustangs. Coleman’s double-digit point total was his third in as many games and fifth this season.

Wade Taylor IV collected 13 points and a career-high nine assists for the Aggies, who have used four different starting lineups this season.

“We haven’t figured out all of that yet, but there is a lot of confidence in all of those guys that were playing so we’re still trying to put it all together, not just on who starts, but on the best groupings, when to sub, how to get guys the appropriate rest and some based on how they’re doing in that moment in time,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “(On Wednesday), those starters were based on how they’ve done in practice over the last two-and-a-half days.”

Like the Aggies, the Broncos also are enjoying a pronounced winning streak to improve to 5-2 on the season.

Boise State recorded three straight double-digit victories before posting a 55-46 triumph over Cal State Northridge on Tuesday. The Broncos are holding their opponents to 54.5 points per game during their winning streak.

Marcus Shaver Jr. recorded 19 points, five rebounds and a career high-tying four steals to fuel Boise State past the Matadors. Tyson Degenhart finished with 11 points and has scored in double digits in all seven games this season.

Although the Broncos shot just 36.5 percent from the floor, Degenhart was not interested in apologizing for the aesthetics of the team’s victory.

“A win is a win,” Degenhart said. “It doesn’t matter how pretty it was, it’s still a win in the win column.”

–Field Level Media

Vanderbilt looks to bounce back from a close loss when it opens a three-game homestand against Wofford on Saturday at Nashville, Tenn.

The Southeastern Conference’s Commodores (3-4) are home after dropping two of three away from Memorial Gymnasium. Their most recent loss was a 70-65 decision at VCU on Wednesday night.

Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse received two technical fouls and was ejected from that game after Liam Robbins was given a technical foul for tapping his head following his dunk.

Stackhouse said the officiating “needs to be better,” and then said the same about his team.

“There are things we can clean up ourselves,” Stackhouse said. “Especially finishing around the rim. We missed some opportunities around the rim that we just can’t afford to do on the road and in this type of environment.”

Myles Stute boasts team-leading averages in points (12.9) and rebounds (6.3).

“He’s a big part of what we do,” Stackhouse said. “We just need to get more contributions from some other guys, especially our bench.”

Robbins (11.9 points per game, 4.0 rebounds) and Tyrin Lawrence (10.4, 3.3) also play significant roles for Vanderbilt, which is shooting only 62.2 percent from the free-throw line.

The Southern Conference’s Terriers (5-3) posted their fourth win in five outings with a 76-63 victory over Presbyterian.

“To hold that team to only five second-chance points and to outrebound them was a huge part of the game,” coach Jay McAuley said after the win. “A lot of these teams are testing us in so many different ways and in ways that will help us down the road.”

The Terriers are led by Jackson Paveletzke (16.4 points) and B.J. Mack (15.9 points, 5.9 rebounds). Corey Tripp chips in with 10.4 points, and Messiah Jones contributes 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Vanderbilt has won all five previous meetings, the last being an 80-56 home victory on Dec. 19, 2015.

–Field Level Media

Providence and Rhode Island are not where they want to be in the course of a long basketball season, but a rivalry win could be just what the doctor ordered.

The in-state foes will meet for the 134th time when they clash on Saturday in Kingston, R.I.

“We’ve got a couple of desperate teams,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “We’re coming off a really, really hard loss, and we’ve got a hard game to prepare for.”

Cooley’s Friars (5-3) seek their first road win after falling 75-62 at TCU on Wednesday.

While returning All-Big East guard Jared Bynum was held to a single basket, sophomores Bryce Hopkins and Devin Carter each scored 17 points against the Horned Frogs. Hopkins averages a team-leading 14.6 points per game and Carter is second with 11.3 per contest.

Providence’s other two losses came on a neutral court in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

“We’ll have a chance to make some games up (in the Big East),” Cooley said. “We don’t want to lose games like this, but … we’re going to learn from all of our games. This is just another one to learn from.”

The Rams (2-5) have not played since Sunday’s 53-49 loss at Boston College, their third loss in four games.

George Washington sophomore transfer Brayon Freeman has scored a career-high 21 points in consecutive games.

Freeman spent a night on the bench after scoring just four points combined in Rhode Island’s first two games.

“He’s got a lot of fight in him,” Rams coach Archie Miller said. “There are a lot of guys who want to go away and hide when things aren’t off to a good start. He didn’t do that.”

Ishmael Leggett (18.3) and Freeman (12.5) average double-digit points per game for Rhode Island.

Friends Miller and Cooley were both assistant coaches with the 2015 Team USA U-19 team that included Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum.

Although Miller is in his first year as the Rams’ coach, he knows what the rivalry is about.

“PC-URI is built over decades of tough kids playing,” Miller said. “I just want our game to honor that and I know it will.”

Cooley is 8-2 against Rhody as the Friars’ coach, but both losses have come at the Ryan Center.

“The old adage that records don’t matter … it’s so close all the time,” Cooley said. “The energy that’s in the building is second to none.”

–Field Level Media

If DePaul desired, it could hop on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line and take a six-mile train ride north to get to Loyola Chicago for Saturday’s non-conference clash.

After a 10-year break, the Blue Demons and Ramblers renewed their North Side rivalry last season with Loyola claiming a 68-64 win on DePaul’s home court. Now it’s DePaul’s turn to try to do the same at Loyola in what has been dubbed the “Red Line Rivalry.”

Considering both teams lost to Texas A&M by 16 points late last month – Loyola on a neutral court on Nov. 20 and DePaul on its home court last Friday – something of an even matchup awaits.

Both teams are feeling better about themselves after snapping losing streaks with a win on Wednesday. DePaul (4-3) ended a three-game slide with a 103-98 overtime home victory over Samford while Loyola (3-4) quelled a four-game skid with an 85-70 win over Central Arkansas, in their first home game since Nov. 7.

The Blue Demons made 18 of 34 3-pointers against Samford (52.9 percent) – tying their highest 3-point total in 27 years. Iowa State transfer Javan Johnson poured in a career-high 28 points while shooting 6 of 8 from 3.

Head coach Tony Stubblefield was most impressed by the fact the Demons earned 24 assists – nine better than their previous season-high — on 32 baskets.

“You move the ball like that, you’re going to have a good chance to win,” Stubblefield said. “The biggest thing I can take away from (the Samford win) is the ball movement and sharing the ball.”

On the flip side, Stubblefield wasn’t giddy about allowing Samford 98 points as the Bulldogs’ guards were able to take the ball wherever they wanted most of the night. Loyola has a set of guards that can do the same.

“We’ve got to do a better job fighting the dribble and keeping the ball out of the paint,” Stubblefield said. “We’ve got to do a better job of post defense. These guys are more than capable of doing that – and I’ve got to get it out of them.”

DePaul will have to continue to try to do it without big men Nick Ongenda and Yor Anei. Ongenda, who injured his left wrist in practice the day before the season opener, underwent surgery Thursday that will delay his season debut another 8-10 weeks.

Loyola coach Drew Valentine has been trying to sort out lineups after losing four senior starters from last year’s 25-win squad. Div. II transfer Philip Alston paces the Ramblers with 13.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while redshirt freshman wing Ben Schwieger (10.8 points) delivered a career-high 26 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range against Central Arkansas.

“We’ve just been focusing on playing hard and winning the (next) four minutes,” Valentine said.

–Field Level Media

After struggling to secure rebounds in its last game, Georgetown looks to control the boards in a home clash against South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

Head coach Patrick Ewing, the Hoyas’ all-time leading rebounder, watched his squad collect a season-low 23 boards during a 79-65 loss to Texas Tech on Wednesday.

The Hoyas were outclassed 18-6 in second-chance points by the Red Raiders, who held a plus-18 rebounding advantage.

Georgetown (4-4) also committed a season-high tying 18 turnovers in the loss.

“If we want to win against good teams like this, we have to be able to take care of the ball and do a great job on the glass,” Ewing said.

UConn transfer Akok Akok recorded a team-leading six rebounds against the Red Raiders. He leads the Hoyas with 7.8 rebounds per game.

Akok and company have the potential to balloon their rebounding stats against a South Carolina team that has struggled to make shots throughout their first seven games.

The Gamecocks (3-4) enter Saturday’s contest shooting just 38.7 percent from the field. They’re coming off a putrid 21-for-65 shooting display in their 79-55 loss at George Washington on Wednesday.

South Carolina shot under 25 percent in the first half and fell behind 40-20 at the break against the Colonials, who glided past the Gamecocks for their first win against a Power 5 foe since the 2016 NIT quarterfinals.

“Our shot quality wasn’t great,” first-year South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said, per The State. “We had a couple guys who turned down shots. I’m all for the next pass, the extra pass, but not at the expense of an already good shot.”

The Hoyas lead the all-time series 3-2, but the Gamecocks have won the last two matchups — including an 80-67 decision at Columbia. S.C., last December. The teams last met at Georgetown in 2002.

–Field Level Media

Wisconsin hits the road out to rediscover its trademark defense when it travels to play suddenly-explosive Marquette in the annual in-state rivalry game on Saturday at Milwaukee.

Marquette (6-2) routed No. 6 Baylor 96-70 at home on Tuesday, while the Badgers (5-2) lost 78-75 to visiting Wake Forest on the same night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, while allowing the Demon Deacons to shoot 53.7 percent from the floor.

Wisconsin and Marquette have split the last 10 matchups in the hotly contested series, with the Badgers winning last season 89-76 at Madison. Wisconsin leads the all-time series 69-59, with the teams playing each other every season since 1917, except for the 1958-59 campaign.

Wisconsin is 68-8 under coach Greg Gard when holding opponents to 60 points or less, including all five wins this season. The Badgers entered the Wake Forest game third in the nation in scoring defense, but gave up 41 points in the second half, including 5 of 12 from 3-point range.

“There was a lot of uncharacteristic things that we had not done this year,” Gard said. “And we’ve got to figure them out and learn from it and get better in a hurry.”

Wisconsin’s only other loss was 69-68 in overtime to No. 9 Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis event at Paradise Island, Bahamas.

After a three-game slump in which he shot 5 of 33 (15.2 percent), Badgers point guard Chucky Hepburn has 40 points in his last two games, including a career-high 23 against Wake Forest with six 3-pointers. He had eight combined 3-pointers in the previous six games.

Tyler Wahl leads the Badgers with 14.4 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 7.1 rebounds. Freshman Connor Essegian has come off the bench to score in double figures each of the last four games and is shooting 51.7 percent (15 of 29) from 3-point range.

Marquette steamrolled Baylor with an early 23-2 run. The Golden Eagles shot 58.3 percent, including 12 of 25 (48 percent) from deep.

“It’s just a big win for our team,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “And a step forward because, up until tonight, we’ve played seven games, the two best teams we played we came up short against. We felt like we were in those games, in position to grab those games, and we didn’t.”

The Golden Eagles’ two losses were by a combined eight points, including 75-70 at fifth-ranked Purdue on Nov. 15, when they let a nine-point lead slip away over the final 10 minutes. They also lost 58-55 to Mississippi State at the Fort Myers Tip-off on Nov. 21.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Kam Jones each average 14.1 points, with David Joplin at 11.8 and Oso Ighodaro at 10.6 and a team-best 6.1 rebounds. Prosper has 42 points in the last two games, including 24 against Baylor.

Marquette forced Baylor into a season-high 20 turnovers, which led to 26 points. Wisconsin entered the Wake Forest game averaging 9.5 turnovers per game, but turned it over 12 times. The Badgers led the nation last season in fewest turnovers with 8.7 per game.

–Field Level Media

Considering Tennessee Tech’s long-running, non-conference road struggles, Butler has a good chance to win back-to-back games for the first time in two weeks.

Looking to remain undefeated at home, the Bulldogs aim to hand the Golden Eagles a 20th straight defeat against non-conference road opponents on Saturday in Indianapolis.

The only time Butler (5-3) has won consecutive games came Nov. 17 and 19 at home versus St. Francis (Pa.) and the Citadel, respectively. The Bulldogs followed those wins by going 1-2 at the Battle 4 Atlantis before bouncing back to hand Kansas State its first defeat with Thursday’s 76-64 victory at home.

“It gives us something to build on,” Butler coach Thad Matta said.

“We’ve seen a lot of different stuff, and when you can have different guys do different things, I like that as a coach.”

Matta liked that his squad held an opponent to fewer than 70 points for the first time in four games, and that each starter had at least 11 points against K-State.

Manny Bates (12.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg) posted his third double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Chuck Harris (13.5 ppg) has totaled 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting in the last two games.

The Bulldogs are shooting 59.0 percent and holding opponents to 41.3 at home.

Tennessee Tech (3-5) is looking to avoid a third consecutive loss overall.

The Golden Eagles’ most recent non-conference road victory came at Winthrop in November 2019.

Tennessee Tech held an 11-point halftime lead against Chattanooga at home Wednesday, then allowed the Mocs to shoot 12-of-15 from the field, and 7-of-9 from 3-point range, in the final 20 minutes.

“There’s a lot of things that we’ll be able to learn from,” Tennessee Tech coach John Pelphrey said following the 81-74 loss.

“We’ve got to find a way to connect the two halves.”

Playing for his third school, the Eagles’ Jaylen Sebree averages team highs of 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

–Field Level Media

Mississippi State is 7-0 under first-year coach Chris Jans, and the team has held each opponent to 55 points or fewer.

The Bulldogs will try to continue their fast start against in-state rival Mississippi Valley State (1-8) on Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.

Despite all the early-season success, Jans is constantly pushing for more from his team.

“We’re trying to be as best as we can with our best game as a standard each and every time we step on the floor,” Jans said. “For the most part, I think the fans and people that watch us play would agree these kids are playing hard and flying around and trying to do the right things.

“Certainly, as a coach, that’s what we’re asking for. At the same time, my job is to ask for more and be greedy and want to get better than they want to every day.”

Mississippi State rolled to a 74-54 home victory against Omaha on Monday night, but Jans said he was looking for “a little more of a dominating defensive performance.”

Tolu Smith led the Bulldogs with 12 points in the win on Monday. He is averaging a team-best 15.1 points and 10.6 rebounds this season.

The Delta Devils, who also have a first-year coach in George Ivory, picked up their only victory in their only home game of the season – a 76-68 win against North Alabama on Nov. 18.

The Delta Devils played at then-No. 5 Baylor, participated in a tournament in Hawaii and lost at Arkansas State 58-38 on Thursday.

Mississippi State Valley won’t play another home game until after it begins Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

The challenging pre-conference schedule is designed to help Ivory build the program.

“We want to compete for a championship,” Ivory said. “We want to be very competitive in the league. You want to make sure the guys are very, very competitive. Anytime you compete, the goal is a championship. … We let (the players) know where we’re trying to go. Our goal might not happen, but we want to go that route.”

–Field Level Media

Notre Dame will look to build momentum on Saturday afternoon when it opens Atlantic Coast Conference play against visiting Syracuse in South Bend, Ind.

The Fighting Irish (6-1) have been a force in nonconference play, including a convincing 70-52 victory against Michigan State on Thursday.

Cormac Ryan scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half against the Spartans. It was a key bounce-back performance for the Fighting Irish, who sustained their first loss with a 63-51 setback to St. Bonaventure on Nov. 25.

Ryan made 8 of 11 shots from the floor — including 6 of 7 attempts from 3-point range — for Notre Dame on Thursday.

“I think we were due for one, all of us,” Ryan said after the win. “We have guys who are too good at playing the right way. I think we were still kind of finding ourselves and we picked a good night to figure it out.”

Nate Laszewski is leading Notre Dame with 16.9 points per game, while Dane Goodwin (14.0), J.J. Starling (13.0), Ryan (11.9), and Trey Wertz (11.3) are also averaging double-digit scoring.

Syracuse (3-4) is trying to dig itself out of a rut.

The Orange have lost three straight, including a lopsided 73-44 setback to Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday.

“We’ve got some young guys that are trying to figure out what they have to do, and they didn’t figure it out very well tonight,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We got a lesson.”

This comes after a season in which his team finished under .500 and ninth in the ACC. His .485 winning percentage following the 16-17 campaign was his worst of his coaching career.

Judah Mintz has led Syracuse in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game. Jesse Edwards is contributing 13.7 and Joseph Girard III is adding 13.4 to round out the Orange attack.

–Field Level Media

Oklahoma fell 52-51 to Sam Houston in the season opener on Nov. 7.

It hasn’t lost since.

The Sooners (6-1) will look for their seventh consecutive victory when they battle host Villanova on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Oklahoma most recently defeated Nebraska, Seton Hall and Mississippi to capture the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla.

The Sooners beat Mississippi 59-55 in the title game behind Grant Sherfield’s 12 points and Sam Godwin’s 11. Tanner Groves and Bijan Cortes had 10 each in the balanced effort.

“When you win a championship that’s three games in four days, you need a lot of contributions,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said. “And that’s what happened, which really excites us over these last four days. We got a lot of contributions from different guys.”

Now the Sooners will aim to continue this positive momentum against the Wildcats.

“It’s the excitement on their face to win a championship,” Moser said. “There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes in a tournament setting to win and advance. These guys locked in for these last four days, and I was happy for them to have this moment.”

After winning two of its first three games, Villanova has dropped four in a row.

The Wildcats (2-5) were swept by Iowa State, Portland and Oregon in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore.

It has been an uncharacteristic start for the Wildcats, who reached the Final Four last season.

But Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright retired after more than 500 victories and two national championships and was replaced by Kyle Neptune.

Villanova has been without two key players in Justin Moore (Achilles) and Cam Whitmore (right thumb).

While Whitmore has been practicing, it’s unclear when he will make his anticipated debut.

Caleb Daniels led the Wildcats with 16 points and Brendan Hausen added 15 in their 74-67 loss to Oregon last Sunday.

“Our guys fought,” Neptune said. “We had our chances but in the end it just wasn’t enough.”

Villanova held a 67-64 lead with 2:27 left before the Ducks pulled away for the final 10 points.

“We just couldn’t execute,” Neptune said. “We couldn’t get rebounds, couldn’t get stops.”

–Field Level Media