Vanderbilt basketball will face a completely new style of play when Texas A&M comes to Memorial Gymnasium on Feb. 14 (noon CT, SEC Network).
The Aggies (17-7, 7-4 SEC) are in their first season under coach Bucky McMillan, who brought a unique style of play incorporating heavy press from Samford.
When Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4) takes the court against the Aggies, there will be several storylines. Texas A&M has a player, Noah Shelby, who started his career at Vanderbilt and another, Jamie Vinson, who decommitted when coach Jerry Stackhouse was fired, however, neither player plays much.
Commodores guard Duke Miles was committed to Texas A&M and Virginia out of the portal before switching to Vanderbilt, though he has been dealing with injury.
The Commodores are coming off a win over Auburn on Feb. 10.
Under McMillan, Texas A&M has a unique style. The Aggies make constant use of a full-court press defense, which forces a lot of turnovers. But if a team can break the press, Texas A&M’s half-court defense is unspectacular.
The primary concern here for Vanderbilt is the lack of guard depth. If Duke Miles and Frankie Collins remain out, Tyler Tanner is the only true ball-handler on the roster. That could be a bigger problem against the Aggies than anyone else.
Another part of “Bucky Ball” is that Texas A&M plays at an extremely high tempo, attempts a high rate of threes and makes most of those threes. Ruben Dominguez, Rylan Griffen, Pop Isaacs and Zach Clemence are all shooting over 39% from beyond the arc with at least 50 attempts.
That will be a key for Vanderbilt, which has lost a few games when its opponents have shot the lights out.
Texas A&M hasn’t had a great defense this season, and its defense isn’t strong in any one particular area. Six straight opponents have scored at least 85 points against the Aggies, and while that’s partly a function of their high tempo, their defense hasn’t helped.
Duke Miles and Frankie Collins both missed the game against Auburn with injuries. While they both could return this season, it is not clear if that will be for this game.
Vanderbilt 88, Texas A&M 82
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
