Florida Gators Basketball vs. Texas A&M Preview

Coming off of a home win over LSU, the Florida Gators basketball team(10-5, 2-1 SEC) is eager to continue conference play as they hit the road to battle Texas A&M (13-2, 3-0) in College Station, Texas on Tuesday, January 12.

Tuesday will mark just the eighth time that the Gators and Aggies have matched up, with Florida leading 5-2 all-time in the series. However, they will be battling yet another undefeated team in conference play but this time they will not have the Rowdy Reptiles on their side.

Florida Notables:

–       Chris Chiozza is now ranked 8th in the nation for his assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.31.

–       Justin Leon made a statement once again, emerging as the superstar of the Gators’ latest win over LSU with 14 points and 9 rebounds as well as drawing two charges.

–       In the final 6:57 of the win against LSU, Florida limited everyone other than Ben Simmons to make any points.

–       Florida is currently ranked No.1 in the SEC in fewest turnovers committed per game at 10.4

–       Brandone Francis-Ramirez is still struggling from behind the arc shooting 11.4% going 4-for-35 this season. In practice, he is known as one of the best shots from downtown so it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out of this drought.

Texas A&M Overview:

Texas A&M is a force to be reckoned with, going 3-0 so far in conference play. This team is ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 80.1 points per game, which is no surprise with athletes like Jalen Jones (16.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg), Alex Caruso (7.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg and Daniel House (15.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg).

The Aggies are ranked No.1 in the SEC for forced turnovers whereas the Gators are ranked No.1in fewest turnovers committed per game. It will be interesting to see if Texas A&M will be able to force some on Florida.

So far in SEC play, Texas A&M defeated Arkansas by 23 points at home, barely escaped Mississippi State, but they did defeat Tennessee (Florida’s one conference loss) by four.

Game Predictions:

Florida’s probable starters are Dorian Finney-Smith, Justin Leon, John Egbunu, KeVaughn Allen and Chris Chiozza. Yet, as we know with Mike White’s ever-changing lineups, it is completely subject to change.

In order for the Gators to bring back the win to Florida, they will have to play with high intensity and quick tempos in order to make up for where they struggle offensively. According to Mike White, You’re only as good as your last one and we’re coming off a good one. Certainly hope we get that same intensity level tomorrow night because we need it or we won’t have a shot.”

Basically, Florida will need to play with the same fire that they played with when they went up against the No.1 team (Michigan State) earlier this season. They will need to produce on the offense and take the good looks that they get. This game would be the perfect time for t Brandone Francis-Ramirez, their shooting star in practice, to break out and put up some major points.

What this game means:

For Florida, this game would keep the momentum that they started with their win over LSU. It will build up this team’s confidence and give them the chance to prove to the conference and the league as a whole that they are still in this.

As for the Aggies, this win would keep them undefeated in SEC play. This team is going to come onto the court with the utmost confidence, especially after just defeating a team that Florida has lost to this season.

Tune in to SEC Network to see for yourself how the game will go down in College Station on Tuesday, January 12 at 7 p.m.

Jenna Ladd
Growing up, Jenna took more of an interest in cheerleading then what was going on the football field and basketball court. It wasn't until she attended her first Gator football game that she finally took notice of football. It was love at first down. (She also enjoys lame jokes). From there, Jenna decided to immerse herself in all things sports - never missing a home football game for all four years of college. During her junior year, she stumbled into the amazing opportunity to marry her love of writing with her love of sports and somehow was able to land an internship with GatorCountry. When she is not covering games, Jenna likes to box, binge-watch Family Guy and American Dad on Netflix and keep up with her fantasy football teams. She loves Jesus, all things sugary and funny snapchat filters, but her main goal in life right now is to find a job after graduating with a degree in sport management.