Make no mistake, Texas A&M coach Gary Blair is focused on the Aggies game in Alabama tonight.
This is the next game, although there is already a bit of talk about the Aggies (20-1, 11-1 SEC) hosting South Carolina No. 5 at the Reed Arena in College Station on Sunday with the regular season conference title possibly hanging on the scale.
Blair recalls that his team has other businesses.
“We are playing for a championship [tonight]”Blair said on his radio show earlier this week about the Alabama game.” Last year, we lost our last two games of the year. Guess who they were against – Alabama and South Carolina.
“We will be ready for Alabama. That’s all that matters to me now.”
Texas A&M won eight consecutive wins and moved up two places to third in this week’s Associated Press poll. They also received a first-place vote. This is the best rating that the Aggies have achieved since being in third place for three weeks in 2008.
Blair agrees with his team’s rating.
“I can live with that,” he said. “Our kids worked hard. I know it’s hard now to decide who is number one, number 2, 3, 4, 5 up to the top 20, because we are all capable on a good day. And luckily, we have a few more days. good ahead. “
Texas A&M boasts an 8-0 record against ranked opponents and is tied for the most overall wins (20) in the country with No. 6 Louisville and No. 4 Stanford. The Aggies are the team with the highest SEC ranking for the first time since November 11, 2019.
South Carolina has won seven consecutive wins against the Aggies. The last time Texas A&M defeated South Carolina was a 67-65 win in overtime at College Station, Texas, on January 16, 2014.
Bulldogs skid
The state of Mississippi eliminated a six-point deficit at the break to prevent a run of five straight losses with a 81-68 victory over Auburn on Tuesday night.
Auburn, who didn’t win at the SEC, led by up to 10 in the first half, but the state of Mississippi used a large third quarter to take control.
It was Mississippi’s first victory in over a month. The last win was a 60-56 win over Ole Miss in Starkville on 10 January. The Bulldogs (9-7, 4-6) dealt with the greedy problems of other teams that forced postponements along with the wintry climate.
After losing 42-36 in the interval, Mississippi State overcame Auburn by 21-8 to take control. The Bulldogs also made only three turnovers in the last two quarters, after having 12 in the first half.
Rickea Jackson and Jessika Carter combined 37 points and 17 rebounds for the State of Mississippi. Jackson led the way with the team’s highest score by 20 points out of 9 out of 16 shots and 9 rebounds.
1,000 point club
Texas senior A&M Ciera Johnson on Sunday became the 33rd player in the school’s history to score 1,000 career points.
Her fourth time free throw put her at 1,000. Johnson, averaging 10.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds in the Aggies’ 66-55 win over Ole Miss.
Mizzou gets hot
Missouri equaled a program record with 18 three points in the 96-80 victory over Florida over the weekend.
This total corresponded to a school record. It is the third time that Missouri has scored 18 points in a game, on January 16, 2013, against Auburn, and on December 8, 2013, against Bradley.
Missouri had 18 of 28 trios, including 10 of 15 in the first half, while the Tigers led 45 to 30 after two quarters against the Gators.
Hayley Frank got 6 out of 8 points out of three, while Shannon Dufficy got 5 out of 7.
Shug Dickson (20), Frank (26) and Aijha Blackwell (21) scored 20 or more points each. It is the first time that three Tigers have scored 20 or more in the same game since 29 November 2008, when they did so in a game of three overtime. The last time this happened in the regulation was January 6, 1995.
Thompson breaks record
Auburn veteran Unique Thompson picked up 14 rebounds in Tigers’ 81-68 loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday, making it the best rebound ever in school history.
Performer All-SEC grabbed a rebound with 5:28 remaining in the third quarter to move past Becky Jackson with 1,119. She is now five ahead of Jackson, missing two games from the regular season.
Best players
Tennessee’s Rennia Davis averaged 23 points, 9 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 assist to earn SEC Player of the Week honors. Jordyn Merritt of Florida received the Freshman of the Week honors.
Davis scored 24 points, the game’s best mark, and his seventh double-double of the season, with 12 rebounds, in Lady Vols’ 75-67 victory over South Carolina. The victory resulted in a sequence of 31 consecutive SEC games for South Carolina. The double-double drew with Davis for the fourth time in school history
Merritt scored 12 points and set the record for his career with nine rebounds against Missouri. She averaged 7.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists this week.
Top to bottom
TEAM COMMENTARY RK LW NET (RECORDS)
1; two; 13; Texas A&M (20-1, 11-1) Aggies awaiting major confrontation
two; 1; 3; South Carolina (18-3, 13-1) Gamecocks recover
3; 6; 16; Georgia (17-4, 9-4) Gabby Connally leading Bulldogs
4; 4; 15; Tennessee (13-6, 7-4) Lady Vols falls after a big win
5; 3; 22; Kentucky (15-6, 8-5) Looking to end strong
6; 5; 21; Arkansas (17-7, 7-6) Warming Razorbacks
7; 7; 60; LSU (8-11, 6-7) Tigers falling
8; 8; 46; Ole Miss (9-9, 3-9) Sledge difficult for rebels
9; 10; 29; Alabama (15-6, 8-6) High tide
10; 9; 38; Mississippi State (9-7, 4-6) Long skidding snaps
11; 12; 40; Missouri (8-9, 4-8) Tigers with hot shots win SEC victory
12; 11; 59; Florida (10-11, 3-10) Kiara Smith responds well
13; 13; 116; Auburn (5-16, 0-13) Still looking for SEC victory
14; 14; 156; Vanderbilt (4-4, 0-3) Season is over
NOTE The NCAA instituted a ranking system called NET Rankings this season for women’s college basketball, which took the place of the Classification Percentage Index. An acronym for NCAA Evaluation Tool, NET’s ranking takes into account the results of the games, the strength of the schedule, the location of the game, the scoring margin, the offensive and defensive efficiency of the network and the quality of the wins and losses.
Game of the week
No. 5 in South Carolina at the 3rd Texas A&M, Sunday at 1 pm (ESPN2)
The winner probably claims the SEC’s regular season title. Gamecocks recovered with a victory over Kentucky on Sunday, after having its string of 31 consecutive wins against SEC opponents won by Tennessee. Texas A&M won its eighth consecutive game, moving away from Ole Miss late.
By the numbers
36 years have passed since Georgia won the season series against Tennessee
18 Three points made by Missouri in the victory over Florida
4 season low points for South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston against Kentucky
8 Texas A&M wins over ranked opponents this season
833 Gary Blair career wins after Sunday’s win over Ole Miss