Tennessee basketball has its fourth top-10 matchup of the 2024-25 season.
The No. 6 Vols (21-5, 8-5 SEC) play at No. 7 Texas A&M (20-5, 9-3) on Saturday (noon ET, ESPN). They went 1-2 in the first three matchups, beating Florida at home while losing at Auburn and at Florida.
Here is what to know about the matchup:
Zakai Zeigler has cemented himself in the All-American conversation heading into the final regular-season stretch.
The senior point guard is averaging 13.4 points and 7.5 assists after his big second half against Vanderbilt on Feb. 15. He is fourth in the nation in assists per game.
“I can’t imagine there’s not a coach in the country that would (not) want Zakai Zeigler,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “When you think about what he does to impact winning basketball games, it’s truly, it’s phenomenal. I don’t know of anyone that does it better.”
Zeigler has been named to the SEC All-Defensive team all three seasons and is the reigning defensive player of the year.
Barnes lauded Zeigler for his leadership, which he said is so strong his teammates would “follow him over the cliff … because he’s got that kind of respect because of what he does every single day.”
Texas A&M fits its identity again under coach Buzz Williams.
The Aggies are an elite rebounding team, especially on the offensive end. They also are one of the best defensive teams in the country.
“I’ve known Buzz for a long time and his teams always compete at the highest level,” Barnes said. “They (are) best in the country rebounding wise.”
Texas A&M ranks No. 1 in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 41.9% of its misses. It ranks fifth nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency.
The Aggies are the second-lowest scoring team in the SEC, averaging 73.7 points. They are the worst 3-point shooting team in the league and make 31.3% of their 3-pointers.
They get a lot of their misses back with rebounding.
“His teams have always done that and he’s got guys that have a real knack for it,” Barnes said.
Tennessee has lost back-to-back games at Texas A&M, including a clunker last season.
The Vols lost 85-69 on Feb. 10, 2024, after losing 68-63 on Feb. 21, 2023.
The Aggies, who also were not a good 3-point shooting team last season, got hot against the Vols. They started the game 8-for-12 on 3-pointers, blitzing past their 6.5 threes-per-game average in the first 13 minutes.
Tennessee has one player out for the season.
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M airs on ESPN at noon ET Saturday. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Tennessee 71, Texas A&M 67: Tennessee plays better defense than it did last year at Texas A&M and gets a key win to stay firmly in the NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed hunt.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
