Texas A&M looking to slow Sexton, Alabama backcourt in SEC opener

The last time a nationally-ranked Texas A&M basketball team visited Tuscaloosa, the No. 15 Aggies left with a 63-62 loss.

That was two years ago. The Aggies bounced back quite nicely, shared the Southeastern Conference championship and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies have the potential to do all that again.

Now ranked fifth, A&M (11-1) has shown the potential to again contend for the SEC title and again make a long run in the NCAA Tournament.

However, there is also the potential to lose at Alabama again when the Aggies open SEC play in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night.

Although coming off a 66-50 loss to Texas in its previous game, the Crimson Tide (8-4) has posed a challenge for ranked opponents. Alabama lost by just six points to No. 17 Arizona and just five to Minnesota, which was No. 14 when that game was played.

That indicates A&M cannot overlook the Crimson Tide, especially since the Aggies may be without two starters. Guard D.J. Hogg, A&M’s leading scorer, is suspended. Guard Admon Gilder has been sidelined with a knee injury and may still be unavailable.

“We're not sure yet about Admon Gilder's availability for the SEC opener,” A&M Billy Kennedy said on Thursday.

“He's been making great progress, but it'll be a long-shot against Alabama. Initially we were hoping we would have him against Florida (on Jan. 2), but that will take some quick recovery to make that happen.”

Although not at full strength, the Aggies still may be strong enough to post a fifth straight victory.

Junior center Tyler Davis has averaged 14.4 points and nine rebounds over the last five games. Forward Robert Williams continues to struggle on the offensive end, but remains a defensive force.

Senior guard Duane Wilson has emerged as a surprising scoring source. He’s also averaged 14.4 points in the last five games, including 23 in a victory over Buffalo in the final tuneup before SEC play.

“Offensively, we didn't expect that from Duane Wilson,” Kennedy said. "He's been good in practice, he's been good off the court, he's been good on the court. He's been a big bonus, and we probably don't win these last two games without his presence.”

A&M has also gotten a boost from 6-foot-7 freshman forward Savion Flagg. Flagg was named the SEC’s freshman of the week for scoring 33 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in the last two games.

Still, the absence of Hogg and Gilder, who combined are averaging more than 26 points, is disconcerting even though A&M leads the SEC with a plus-17.2 scoring margin.

“My concern is not scoring enough points,” Kennedy said. “Without DJ and Admon we're losing about 30 points per game, so we're going to have to have some guys step up and score to beat a good team like Alabama on the road.”

The Aggies may miss Gilder more on the defensive end. Gilder typically draws the task of guarding the opponent’s best backcourt scorer. Alabama freshman guard Collin Sexton leads the SEC with a 20.5-point scoring average.

“Alabama starts with Collin Sexton,” Kennedy said. “We need to keep him in check, which is going to be a challenge for us. We'll probably start with a freshman on him if it's not Duane Wilson. He's a big-time talent who can score in bunches.

“They have another freshman (John Petty) who's averaging 13 points per game. Everything runs through their guards, and it's important that we get back on defense and slow them a little bit.”

Alabama can’t match A&M’s inside power. The Aggies are the SEC’s best rebounding team and rank near the top in scoring defense. Alabama has been rather mediocre on the boards and on the defensive end.

Therefore if the Aggies can slow down the Alabama backcourt this time they may be able to leave Tuscaloosa with a win.