College Basketball

Texas A&M Basketball: Aggie Offense Goes Quiet in Loss to Tennessee

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:20 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Shelbie Warr/FanSided via Gig Em Gazette

Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas A&M basketball team took the court to defend their SEC title against the Tennessee Volunteers. Things did not start off as planned.

The Aggie offensive attack went quiet against the Tennessee Volunteers at home, resulting in a loss to open league play.

The first half of the SEC opener went well for the Aggies, ending with the teams deadlocked at 29 points each going into the break. In the second half the Tennessee Volunteers went on a tear, outscoring the Aggies 44-34 overall in the half.

The Aggies trailed by as much as 20 in the game and ended up losing by 10 in a 73-63 final.

The Highlights

Aggies fans should Remember the name DJ Hogg. He’s more than just a pretty face and he’s having himself a nice season so far.

DJ finished with 21 points on the night, the third such night of his career. 21 points accounts for a third of the total Aggie offense. Hogg had 13 of the teams 29 first half points, making three three-pointers.

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The sophomore was definitely on a roll, but cooled off significantly in the second half as did the rest of his team. JC Hampton and Admon Gilder joined Hogg in the double-digit point club with 11 and 14, respectively.

Junior Tonny Trocha-Morelos continued his dominance as a rebounder, racking up a career high 12 on the night. This was also the most by an Aggie player this season. Freshman Robert Williams collected his 29th blocked shot in Thursday night’s contest, extending his block streak to 12 games.

The Not-So Highlights

This was not a pretty night for the boys in maroon and white and it was definitely not the night they had in mind going into the contest. The Aggie offense just wasn’t on it’s game, matching season lows in total points (63) and in scoring percentage (.344).

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They also committed a season high 16 turnovers and a season low 10 assists. The Aggie bench showed that it’s just not as deep as it used to be. The reserves were outscored on the night 30-8.

Ouch, those numbers are just not pretty.

Coach Kennedy chalked it up to a lack of ability to handle the pressure that was presented to his team Thursday night. He sited the team’s lack of depth as an issue as well as a lack of intensity and pressure in practice to prepare the team for nights like this.

What’s Next?

Well, the Aggies don’t have time to let this one linger on their minds too long as they have 17 more league games to play.

Next stop? Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. That one will not be easy. It will be physical, high pressure, and will require the upmost focus on all aspects of the game.

The Aggies tip off against Kentucky at 8pm on January 3rd.

***Stats from ESPN***

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