What we learned about Texas A&M from the Aggies' 94-88 home loss to Alabama

Another SEC game, another ranked opponent. Up next for No. 8 Kentucky (13-3; 2-1 SEC) is a showdown later tonight against the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies (13-3; 2-1 SEC).

What should we expect to see out of Buzz Williams’ squad? I dove into the film from the Aggies’ 94-88 loss to No. 4 Alabama (which Kentucky will host on Saturday) at home in College Station to see what I could find out about this group. A key injury in the backcourt to an All-SEC point guard isn’t going to help Texas A&M chances tonight, but the Aggies have more than enough juice to pull off the upset. Kentucky is considered a roughly 5-point favorite by both the bettors and the computers.

Here is what stood out from Texas A&M’s loss to Alabama and how it could translate to tonight’s showdown with the Wildcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN2.

Zhuric Phelps is going to shoot

If there’s one player on Texas A&M not named Wade Taylor IV (out with an injury) who can torch the Wildcats, it would be senior guard Zhuric Phelps, who transferred over to the Aggies in the offseason after three seasons at SMU. Phelps was a 2023-24 All-AAC performer with the Mustangs but has never been an efficient chucker. That’s carried over to Texas A&M.

Phelps fired up a career-high 29 shot attempts in the loss to Alabama, only scoring 24 points off those looks. The 6-foot-3 guard is in love with searching for the toughest shots he can find. Some go in, most do not. He was 8-23 from two-point range against the Crimson Tide and just 1-6 from deep. Phelps has a tendency to push the pace and hunt contested looks.

Without Taylor soaking up some extra shots, Phelps is going to get his. Kentucky should feel comfortable letting him shoot upwards of 25 shots knowing that more than half of them will be tough. Phelps has never shot better than 40 percent from the field in his career and this season’s three-point percentage (31.1) is his best yet. Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh will try to make his life hell.

Backcourt pressure into a zone defense

Texas A&M did this plenty against Alabama. The Aggies would bring a few players into the backcourt and attempt to press the Bama guards. For the most part, Mark Sears and Aden Holloway handled it with ease. Kentucky’s veteran guards should do the same. That pressure would then float into a makeshift zone defense for Texas A&M. The zone initially appeared to start out as a 2-3 but would quickly develop into lots of switching and sometimes right into man-to-man.

Alabama made the Aggies pay for this more often than not. The Crimson Tide went 13-37 from deep, and a good chunk of those looks came off fast actions and passes once they got the ball across halfcourt. Whenever Texas A&M tried to trap an Alabama ball handler, early ball movement burned the defense for clean shots from deep. The Tide made them pay for it. Kentucky can do the same.

Alabama took lots and lots of 3s

Kentucky should shoot upward of 30 three-pointers tonight. Anything under that make would be a disappointment and likely means that Texas A&M mucked up the game to the point where Kentucky could not operate its offense. The Aggies have allowed 87 three-pointers through three SEC games on a 39.1 percent shooting clip. Texas A&M’s backcourt pressure on top of that zone defense mentioned above should free open the Wildcats’ many outside shooters.

Mark Pope has begged for his team to average at least 30 three-pointers. The ‘Cats are at 27.8 so far this season and have only broken the 30 mark on four occasions. One of those games was UK’s most recent outing, a road win over a tough Mississippi State defense. Kentucky could easily get close to 40 three-pointers tonight. Hitting those at a 33 percent clip or better should lead to a Wildcats’ win more often than not.

Offensive rebounds and free throws

Texas A&M is not a good scoring team. They rank 260th or worse in the country in all three shooting categories: 43.1 field goal percentage (276th), 30.9 three-point percentage (314th), and 69.2 free-throw percentage (264th). CJ Wilcher and Hayden Heffner are the only true threats from deep. So how do the Aggies score inside? By living at the free-throw line.

Against Alabama, Texas A&M scored 28 of its 88 points from the free throw line. This is a top 10 group in the country at going to the line. The Aggies get there by racking up second-chance opportunities and offensive rebounds. They had 32 second-chance and 23 offensive rebounds in the loss to Bama. The initial shot is more than likely going to miss, but the Aggies are elite (No. 1 in the country) at grabbing offensive boards. Henry Coleman and Pharrel Payne combined for 11 offensive rebounds against Alabama with 19 free throws. Kentucky’s frontcourt (with or without Andrew Carr) will be tested all night long on the glass but should be able to grab plenty of its own offensive rebounds on the other end.

But also keep in mind that Texas A&M missed 20 of its 48 free throws attempted. The Aggies shot 38.9 percent overall and 4-18 from deep against an Alabama defense that is admittedly better than Kentucky’s. But Texas A&M has struggled to shoot the ball in all three SEC games this season. For the ‘Cats, this matchup could more resemble the Georgia loss as opposed to the Mississippi State win in terms of the Aggies’s physicality and desire to get to the stripe.