Gonzaga and Their High-Powered Offense Face Banged up Aggies
The fans at McCarthey Athletic Center will the Texas A&M Aggies and the 3rd-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs when they take their seats on Thursday. Gonzaga has topped 100 points in each of the first two games of a season for the first time in program history.
TV: 11:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2.
LINE: Gonzaga -16.5;
O/U: 158.
Gonzaga averaged 112 points in victories over Idaho State and Texas Southern. They won the two contests by an average of 39 points. Junior forward Rui Hachimura fueled the attack by averaging 25 points while shooting 20-of-31 from the field.
Senior point guard Josh Perkins recorded a career-best 11 assists in the win over Texas Southern. He is three away from becoming the sixth player in school history to reach 500.
An emerging force is junior forward Brandon Clarke. He started the first two games in place of injured forward Killian Tillie, who was out with an ankle injury. He averaged 17 points on 15-of-21 shooting. He chipped in 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Bulldogs outrebounded their first two opponents by an average of 16.5 and are shooting 55.3 percent from the field.
Texas A&M is trying to bounce back from a discouraging 74-73 loss to UC-Irvine. The Aggies blew a 14-point second-half lead.
“I’m disappointed,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said after the loss. “It was a hard-fought game and UC Irvine made more shots than we did. We didn’t get a stop at the end. They made a tough shot. That’s what it came down to.”
Texas A&M is 1-1 on the season. Senior guard Admon Gilder, who averaged in double digits each of the previous two seasons, will miss his third straight game with hamstring and knee injuries.
Sophomore wing Savion Flagg is leading the Aggies in scoring at 17.5 ppg and rebounding at 10.5 ppg. Junior forward Josh Nebo is contributing 12.5 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Texas A&M was a meager 14-of-66 from 3-point range over its first two games while committing an average of 17 turnovers.
Texas A&M won the only previous meeting, 62-61 on Nov. 26, 2015 in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
The Aggies outrebounded their first two opponents by an average of 12.5.
PREDICTION: Gonzaga 101, Texas A&M 83
| Texas A&M is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games |
| Texas A&M is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games |
| The total has gone OVER in 5 of Texas A&M’s last 6 games |
| Texas A&M is 4-9 SU in its last 13 games on the road |
| Gonzaga is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games |
| Gonzaga is 18-1 SU in its last 19 games |
| The total has gone OVER in 7 of Gonzaga’s last 10 games |
| Gonzaga is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games at home |
| Gonzaga is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games at home |
Next up:
Texas A&M at Minnesota Sunday, November 18
Gonzaga at Illinois Monday, November 19
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