The No. 7 seed Texas A&M Aggies (25-9, 17-4 SEC) face off against the No. 10 seed Penn State Nittany Lions (22-13, 13-11 Big 10) Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Penn State was narrowly defeated by the Purdue Boilermakers 67-65 at United Center on Sunday in the Big Ten Tourney Championship. With 19 points and eight rebounds, Seth Lundy was a top performer in the loss.
Texas A&M lost in blowout fashion in the Southeastern Conference Tourney Championship on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena, falling to the Alabama Crimson Tide 82-63. Dexter Dennis had 14 points in the losing effort to lead the team.
The Aggies took the last meeting between the teams 98-87 at Barclays Center in November 2017. Jalen Pickett is averaging 17.9 points per game to lead the Nittany Lions in scoring this season. Pickett also is contributing 6.7 assists, fourth-most in the nation, and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Wade Taylor IV has supplied much of the Aggies’ offense, averaging 16.5 points per game. Taylor IV also has doled out 4.0 assists per game. Henry Coleman III has pulled down 5.7 rebounds per game.
Opponents are shooting 40.5% from the field against the Aggies, ranking as one of the toughest FG% defenses in the country (24th). In the last 10 games, Penn State is 8-2 with an average margin of +3.1 (72.1-69.0).
Texas A&M has also gone 8-2 over the last 10, scoring 68.8 points per game on average while holding opponents to 65.0 (+3.8 margin). The Aggies are averaging 73.2 ppg for the full season while allowing 66.2.
NITTANY LIONS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Kanye Clary: 7.2 | 4.6 | +2.6
Evan Mahaffey: 0.8 | 4.4 | -3.6
Assists per game:
Jalen Pickett: 5.0 | 6.7 | -1.7
AGGIES HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Solomon Washington: 7.6 | 5.8 | +1.8
Points per game:
Henry Coleman III: 6.6 | 9.2 | -2.6
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
Penn State (+120)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
