March 4, 2025 Game of the Day Recap
Auburn 72 – Texas A&M 83
The Aggies started hot and they did not hold up for the rest of the game. Everything Auburn seemed to do, the Aggies countered. If the Tigers fell short on something, the Aggies used that against them.
The Aggies shot lights out to begin the game. I said yesterday that this game was important for both teams, but more important for Texas A&M and it showed early. This was also shown in the tremendous urgency they had tracking down loose balls and rebounding hard for the whole game. Their defense was outstanding, forcing Auburn into 13 turnovers.
Johni Broome had a scare early in the game when he got tangled up with someone from Texas A&M down in the paint in the first half. He was in immediate pain and started to come off the court as his team was taking the ball down the court offensively. I am not sure if this is what slowed him down for the remainder of the game, but the Aggies held him in check from there holding him to 8 points. He missed a front end of a big 1 and 1 late in the game and that may have been the last bit of hope the Tigers had. This game could open the gates for Cooper Flagg as I mentioned yesterday.
Texas A&M had never beaten a #1 team in the nation in basketball in their teams’ history until tonight, so throughout the game I think they did have the most life with that on the back of their minds. The Aggies shot better from the field and from the three compared to their season averages. From the first basket of the game until the last, the Aggies were in control and hopped off of their 4-game skid with a win against the best team in the country. This win was a big resume builder to get a better seed for the tournament coming up here in a few weeks.
Buzz Williams, the coach for Texas A&M, was begging the fans of Texas A&M to not storm the court and he got his wish. I called for a possible court storming in College Station, but unfortunately, there is a steep fine for that nowadays. Now being able to pay players, some teams are
Will Taylor IV: 16 points, 5-15 FG, 3-7 3P, 1 Jersey Retired
Johni Broome: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4-9 FG
Tahaad Pettiford: 19 points, 6-11 FG, 6-10 3P
Zhuric Phelps: 19 points, 6-16 FG, 2-7 3P
March 5, 2025 Game of the Day Preview
Florida – Alabama
Another top-10 SEC game for today’s game of the day includes Alabama, yet again, hosting Florida. In what will be another great game, this will have big implications on who gets what seed in the SEC tournament and possibly further into the NCAA tournament as this could be a game to see who gets that final 1 seed.
Alabama is coming off a crushing loss on the road versus Tennessee where they were up by 4 with 30 seconds to go and lost the game to a buzzer beater. This was my featured game of the day on Saturday and you can check out more of that game in a blog released Sunday morning.
Mark Sears went off last game and will look to capitalize off a good performance and keep that going here at home. He will be a crucial part of their offense yet again as the Tide know this game is must win. Sears always seems to play good in these big games with lots on the line. I will be betting on him to get 20+ points.
In a battle between 2 of the top 3 team rebounding teams in the country, this will be a battle on the boards for sure. Whichever team can stay consistent on the glass will put themselves in a prime position to win the game. Both of these teams are also top 10 in scoring offense, so these two I think do have a positive correlation. I will be keeping my eye on the rebounds because I think that will determine the winner.