(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies (24-9, 9-7 Big 12) vs. No. 1 Connecticut Huskies (28-4, 15-3 Big East)
NCAA Tournament Second Round—West Region
Saturday, March 21—3:35 PM ET on CBS
Preview
There were plenty of questions surrounding the Huskies at the start of their first round game—coach Jim Calhoun was nowhere to be seen due to an illness, and UConn was down 6-4 after four minutes. But associate head coach George Blaney was able to spark something within the Huskies, as they finished the first half on a 46-14 run en route to a 103-47 win over the Chattanooga Mocs.
The Aggies had a different sort of game, although they wound up winning by a comfortable margin in the end too. As a nine-seed, Texas A&M was the underdog against No. 8 BYU (BYU was also favored by two), although the only time they trailed was when BYU made the opening bucket. The Aggies were up by 12 at the half and won the game by 13.
This is going to be a very different game for A&M, though, as their opponent is no longer a good mid-major but instead a great big six team. The Aggies have taken on their share of great big six teams this season, though, as they faced Big 12 conference rivals Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri on more than one occasion this season.
The Huskies may be a different sort of beast than the Big 12 powerhouses, though. Prior to the Big East Tournament they suffered just three losses—two of which were to fellow one-seed Pitt. In the Big East Tournament, they lost in an epic six-OT battle to Syracuse.
UConn has now put up over 100 points in their past two games—will their explosive offense continue, or will A&M be able to throw them off their game enough to pull off the 1/9 upset?
By The Numbers
| Record | Conf | ATS | RPI | SOS | PF | PA | |
| No. 9 Texas A&M | 24-9 | 9-7 | 16-10 | 36 | 51 | 71.7 | 66.3 |
| No. 1 Connecticut | 28-4 | 15-3 | 13-14 | 8 | 29 | 77.3 | 64.0 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 9 Texas A&M | 44.6 | 43.1 | 36.6 | 36.2 | 69.5 | 40.0 | 5.0 | 12.2 | 12.8 | 3.9 |
| No. 1 Connecticut | 47.0 | 37.7 | 34.7 | 31.3 | 67.7 | 45.4 | 5.8 | 15.4 | 12.7 | 8.0 |
Stats Leaders
| No. 9 Texas A&M | No. 1 Connecticut | |
| PPG | J. Carter - 14.1 | A. Price - 14.0 |
| D. Sloan - 11.7 | H. Thabeet - 13.7 | |
| B. Davis - 10.4 | J. Adrien - 13.6 | |
| RPG | C. Elonu - 7.4 | H. Thabeet - 10.9 |
| APG | D. Sloan - 3.0 | A. Price - 4.7 |
| SPG | B. Holmes - 0.9 | K. Walker - 1.1 |
| BPG | C. Elonu - 1.6 | H. Thabeet - 4.6 |
Prediction
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