Texas A&M (24-4 overall, 12-2 Big 12)comes to town tonight to face the Longhorns in a game that both must win in order to keep themselves in the mix for the conference title. Add that bit of drama to the passion always attached to this rivalry, and the Drum is bound to be absolutely electric. Can you remember the last time there was this much excitement about a basketball game with the Aggies? This newfound rivalry is nothing but great for basketball in the state of Texas, and the energy surrounding this game is contangious.

If you don’t recall what happened last time out, this handy-dandy link should help refresh your memory. Texas hung with the Aggies for 30-35 minutes by attacking the rim and getting to the line. In the end, A&M pulled away with a ton of offensive rebounds and fast-break points against a Texas team that looked like it had hit the wall.

The key players for the Ags are Joseph Jones and Antanas Kavaliauskas in the paint and Acie Law IVXCLMIIX at the point. For a more detailed rundown on the team, you can check out the game preview from the first match-up.

While these three are the most reliable stars for Coach Billy Gillispie, all of his players are scoring threats and he even gets quality contributions from the bench. To stop Texas A&M, it’s really a game of pick your poison. Work too hard on guarding the perimeter, and AK and Jones will destroy you inside. Pack the lane, and the Ags will shoot right over the Horns. Fortunately, A&M does not often grab their offensive rebounds, so Texas will need to corrall those misses and limit the Aggie possessions to one-and-done.

On the offensive end, the Horns need to continue with what worked in College Station. Namely, attack the rim and draw the fouls that come with A&M’s aggressive defensive style. It’d also be great to keep knocking down the free throws that gets you, something the Horns had a hard time doing in the second half in College Station. Of course, they shot something like 99.9999999% at the line in the first half, so it really was just the law of averages setting in.

In the second half of the first game, Texas A&M sagged their zone and dared the Horns to shoot over it. Too often, Texas obliged and went away from what had worked so well for them. I would not be surprised to see Gillispie utilize the same defensive scheme tonight. It’s key that Texas not fall into the trap a second time.

I’m not holding out a whole lot of hope for a victory tonight, but I would love to be proven wrong. I had the same sinking feelings before we headed to the neutral-site game against LSU, and that turned out well. Of course, A&M is a much stronger team than the Tigers and are ridiculously good on both sides of the ball. Fortunately, the crowd should be fired up tonight and the Erwin Center uncharacteristically deafening. Hopefully that means the home-court advantage will come into play. We’ll find out at 8 P.M. tonight.