With Kansas tripping up on the road against Kansas State on Monday night, an outright Big 12 title is possibly just weeks away for the Texas Longhorns. Only six opponents remain on the schedule for Texas, who can now lose one of those games and still lay sole claim to the conference crown. The quest for that championship continues tonight, as the Longhorns host a struggling Oklahoma State squad who would love nothing more than to spoil those dreams.

If you had to rank the remaining six games in order of difficulty, tonight’s would definitely qualify as one of the “easier” ones left. Oklahoma State is near the bottom of the league standings, is dealing with off-the-court drama, and already lost by double-digits to Texas on their own court last month. With tougher tests awaiting in the form of road trips to Baylor, Colorado, and Nebraska, plus a home date against a salty Kansas State squad, tonight’s game is one that the Longhorns simply cannot afford to overlook.

The first meeting

For twenty minutes, the first match-up between Oklahoma State and Texas was a battle. The Cowboys even led with just over four minutes to go in the first half, but fell victim to a 14-0 run by the Longhorns that put the visitors up for good. Texas employed its trademark stiff defense in Stillwater, shutting out sharpshooter Keiton Page while holding OSU to a season low in points and field-goal percentage.

Dogus Balbay had a big night, scoring 10 points to go with five boards, four assists, and a pair of steals. Jordan Hamilton paced the Horns with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Tristan Thompson led the Texas scorers with fourteen. The freshman struggled early in the game, but scored 11 consecutive points during one second-half stretch.

Since then…

Since the last meeting, the Longhorns have never trailed in a game. A Balbay free throw tied the Longhorns and Cowboys at 25 each in the first game, and Texas has led or been even with every opponent in the 224 minutes of basketball since then. That’s an unbelievable stretch of more than five and a half games in which the Longhorns have dominated their opponents.

For the Cowboys, things have gone downhill since the loss in Stillwater. OSU has managed to split the four games they’ve played since facing Texas, but they suffered a huge blow last week when big man Darrell Williams was charged with four felonies, including three counts of rape. He has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Travis Ford, and is in a holding pattern at least until his next day in court, which isn’t until March 7th. Prior to the suspension, Williams was averaging 7.1 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Cowboys.

In their first game without the big man, Oklahoma State lost to Nebraska in Lincoln, 65-54. The Cowboys were forced to rely more on Matt Pilgrim and Roger Franklin, who combined for just four points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes on the floor. Marshall Moses tried to carry the team with his 18-point, six-rebound effort, but the Huskers were still able to dominate OSU on the boards and in the paint.

Meet the Cowboys

For an in-depth look at the entire Oklahoma State roster, please read our preview from the first game between these two teams.

Keys to the game

In Stillwater, the Longhorns had major issues with ball handling in the early going. Fortunately, many of those miscues were unforced errors, and not a result of Oklahoma State’s pressure. That means it should be easy for Texas to value the basketball against the Cowboys this time around. The Horns cruised to a 15-point win in Stillwater despite a rash of turnovers, so if they are able to erase those mistakes tonight, it should be an absolute beating.

Texas also will want to react quicker to double teams. The Longhorns had quite a few possessions against Oklahoma State in their first meeting where the Texas bigs failed to recognize an approaching double or triple-team on the blocks. If the Longhorns can make quick passes against that pressure tonight, they are going to find many more open looks and should cruise to an easy home win.

With Williams out of the lineup, Texas also needs to exploit their advantage on the glass. A big reason why the Longhorns rank No. 1 nationally in defensive efficiency is a strong presence on the boards that limits opponents to numerous one-shot possessions. Without Williams, it will be even harder for the Cowboys to earn offensive boards and second-chance points. If Texas dominates this facet of the game as easily as they should, this game could become very lopsided in a hurry.

Finally, the Longhorns need to keep OSU out of the paint early. In the first match-up, the Cowboys didn’t attack inside and didn’t earn trips to the line, instead relying on mid-range and outside jumpers, many of them contested. Look for OSU to make adjustments and make a concerted effort to score early with Moses and Pilgrim inside. If Texas can once again establish dominance by making stops on the first few possessions, it’s likely the Pokes will take the path of least resistance and try to beat the Horns with jumpers.

As Texas has made its march through the first month of the Big 12 season, the Longhorns have exorcised a few of their recent demons. The team earned the first win in school history at Allen Fieldhouse, then ended a six-year losing streak to Texas A&M at Reed Arena. This afternoon, the Horns can end yet another skid as they host the Baylor Bears.

After beating the Bears 24 consecutive times, the Longhorns have dropped four straight to Baylor, including a three-game sweep last season. That Baylor team went on to the Elite Eight, coming within just minutes of a Final Four berth before falling to Duke in Houston. This year’s team is a decidedly different group of players, and the odds seem to be in Texas’ favor this time around.

The Bears started the season with a lot of buzz, based on the arrival of stud freshman Perry Jones III and the return of sharpshooter LaceDarius Dunn, who will likely be the Big 12’s all-time scoring leader by the end of the season.

Unfortunately, the Bears have stumbled through the first few months of the season, losing three neutral-site games in non-conference play before bumbling through a 3-3 start in the Big 12. Baylor has since won three of four, and now actually find themselves in third place in the conference.

By the numbers

Scott Drew and the Bears play a bit slower than the national average, working in just 66.4 possessions per ballgame. A big reason for this is their standard 2-3 zone, which forces opponents to take longer each possession to find an open look. The Baylor offense is also a bit slow, as the team can often go stagnant for long stretches as Dunn works to get open and the other four guys stand and watch.

The one number that sticks out for Baylor is an abnormally high turnover percentage. The Bears cough it up on 23.8% of their possessions, a stat that is so poor, it puts them 315th nationally out of 345 teams. Fortunately for Baylor, the stout Texas defense isn’t one that forces many turnovers, so they won’t see excessive pressure from the Longhorns this afternoon. If Baylor does turn it over a bunch against Texas, it’s likely the result of their own carelessness.

The Bears are also a great rebounding team, thanks to one of the longest frontcourts in the nation. They claim 37.3% of the offensive rebounding chances they have, while limiting opponents to just a 29.1% success rate on their own offensive board opportunities. In pure numbers, Baylor is posting a +6.6 rebounding margin per game.

However, in their four conference losses, Baylor’s offensive rebounding percentage was 32.4% or lower. In four of the five wins, it was 37% or higher. Only Wednesday’s narrow win over Nebraska came on a night with poor offensive rebounding, with the Bears reclaiming just 28.3% of their misses.

Kansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma also grabbed a ton of their own misses when they beat the Bears. Both Kansas schools had offensive board percentages north of 46%, while OU — a team that is typically terrible on the glass — grabbed nearly 38% of their own misses.

Meet the Bears

Baylor employs a very small, but talented rotation. Four of the five starters average 32 minutes or more, while Anthony Jones plays at least 29 minutes per night. The bench only runs three deep, but all of the Baylor reserves are skilled role players who make the most of their minutes.

The big name on Baylor’s roster is senior LaceDarius Dunn, who has one of the best shots in college basketball. He will absolutely kill you if you leave him open behind the arc, where he’s made 41.8% of his attempts this season. He’s also averaging more than 20 points per game, including an impressive 18 points per game against conference opponents.

Without Tweety Carter on the Baylor roster, defenses are keying more on Dunn this season. As a result, the Bears are having to work harder setting screens off the ball to free up their sharpshooter. In addition, Dunn has improved his floater and midrange game, which makes it much more of a gamble for opponents to play in his shirt on the perimeter.

Replacing Carter in the backcourt is point guard A.J. Walton, who is doing a good job feeding Dunn and the Baylor bigs. Walton has an eye-popping assist rate of 29.3%, good enough for 102nd in the country according to stat guru Ken Pomeroy. He also has exceptionally quick hands on defense, and leads the Big 12 with 22 steals in 10 conference games. Just like Dunn, Walton is a player that can’t be left alone behind the arc, where he is making 43.1% of his attempts.

Down low, the 6’7″ Quincy Acy is a force to be reckoned with. Although he’s not going to take anybody off the dribble, and more than half of his career field goals are dunks, he repeatedly finds a way to get open down low or sprint for an easy lob. Just ask the Longhorns, who Acy scored 24 points against in Waco last March. Of his 12 buckets in that game, 10 were throwdowns.

Acy is also one of Baylor’s big rebounders, grabbing 7.5 boards per game and 6.8 rebounds per game in Big 12 play. While he’s not the shot blocker that Ekpe Udoh was for the Bears last year, Acy does lead the team with 36 blocks, and he’s constantly altering shots when opponents drive the lane.

The other main rebounder for Baylor is freshman stud Perry Jones III. He’s averaging seven boards a night to go with 14.6 points, and he’s slotted in the top five of practically every NBA mock draft. At 6’11”, PJ3 has played every position in his career, so he’s a versatile threat with great handles, a smooth midrange jumper, and superior athleticism. He’s a tough matchup for 99% of the basketball world, so Texas will have to work very hard to contain him this afternoon.

Anthony Jones is another big man for Baylor, checking in at 6’10”. Although he’s adept at scoring inside, the junior has no problem stepping out beyond the perimeter and knocking down a triple. Defensively, he’s another long body on that back line of Baylor’s 2-3 zone that makes it tough to penetrate or get open looks in the corner.

Off the bench, speedy freshman guard Stargell Love has made a quick impact even though he suffered a stress fracture in his foot back in December. He’s able to split the point guard duties with Walton, but is more of a combo guard who can knock down the three or score inside the arc. He has a wicked pull-up jumper, made even more deadly by just how quickly he can drive the basketball. Although Love is averaging just 12.8 minutes and 2.3 points per game, he is going to be a big star in the near future.

Junior Fred Ellis is a swingman out of California who has already earned his Bachelors and is currently in grad school. He’s a pretty stout 6’6″ guy who scraps for loose balls and rebounds, and generally just provides smart minutes off the bench. (Smart minutes aren’t too surprising, coming from this Doogie Howser of the hardwood.) His 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in roughly 17 minutes a game aren’t going to set any box scores ablaze, but he’ll definitely make an impact this afternoon on a handful of plays.

Dallas product J’mison Morgan transferred to Baylor after a season at UCLA, and he gives Coach Drew another big body off the bench to sub into that dominating back line. He’s started six of the team’s conference games, while Acy has been relegated to the sixth man role, so he might be in the starting five tonight. Whether it’s as reserve or starter, the 6’11” Morgan makes it difficult for opponents to get easy looks inside, but isn’t much of a threat on the offensive end.

Keys to the game

The Longhorns can make things very difficult on Baylor today if they get out to a fast start. The Bears managed just 18 points in the first half of a loss against Kansas State, and scored only 21 first-half points against Colorado before storming back late for a victory.

Baylor’s preference for the zone defense means that a big first-half lead is hard for them to overcome. The zone gives them less possessions to work their comeback magic, unless they choose to go to their weaker man-to-man D. Then, they run the risk of letting the opponent score too often to be able to mount any comeback.

To beat that Baylor zone, Texas needs Gary Johnson to knock down the jumpers. He’s the most-efficient mid-range shooter for the Longhorns, so if he can get it going from the soft middle of the zone, things will really open up for Texas.

Baylor has had some major issues this season sliding quickly enough in their zone, leaving the baseline wide open on cuts. If Gary is knocking down the free-throw line J and forcing the Bears to jump out on him, Jordan Hamilton and Tristan Thompson should have a lot of open looks cutting along the baseline.

The Longhorn defense must also be sure to pick its poison this afternoon. It’s practically impossible to shut down Dunn, as he proved in Wednesday night’s win over Nebraska. After scoring just four points in the first half, LaceDarius poured in 20 in the second half, powering his team to a win over the Huskers.

Unfortunately for Baylor, Dunn likely can’t beat Texas by himself. And by the same token, PJ3 and Acy also can’t beat the Horns on their own. If Texas sells out to stop Dunn or to limit the inside scoring from the Bears, it’s unlikely the resulting one-dimensional Baylor attack can manage a win.

Finally, as we mentioned above, keeping Baylor off the glass is a surefire way to earn a W over the Bears. If Texas wins the rebounding battle, the numbers indicate that this Baylor team will have a very tough time pulling off the road upset.

Halfway through the Big 12 slate, the Texas Longhorns have defied the odds and find themselves atop the league standings with a perfect 8-0 mark. With the Kansas Jayhawks dominating their opponents game in and game out, it’s becoming more likely that the Longhorns will have to finish with a perfect 16-0 league record to claim an outright conference championship.

As any fan of college basketball knows, the toughest place to find wins is on the road in conference play. Tonight, the Longhorns take on one of their biggest rivals in Norman, as they square off with the Oklahoma Sooners. Fortunately for Texas, OU has one of the youngest rosters in the country, with three sophomores and one freshman in the starting lineup. The Sooners are playing well as of late, though, and could easily pull off the upset at home.

The first meeting

The Longhorns knocked off the Sooners 66-46 in Austin on January 15th, a game in which Texas led wire to wire. The Horns jumped out to an early lead by holding OU to just three field goals in their first 13 attempts, and allowed the Sooners just 19 points in the first half.

On the offensive end, the Longhorns were given numerous open looks from long range, and they were able to knock down seven of 12 from behind the arc on the afternoon. Jordan Hamilton was the biggest beneficiary of the poor perimeter D, and he knocked down five threes as part of his 17-point performance.

For the Sooners, Andrew Fitzgerald was the lone bright spot in an embarrassing loss. The big man had 18 points, scoring at will inside. Tiny guard Carl Blair also had a pair of easy layups when matched up with Texas’ Jai Lucas, who couldn’t match Blair’s speed. Unfortunately for Blair, Lucas only played six minutes in the game.

All told, the 0.747 points per possession that Texas allowed was OU’s worst offensive performance of the season. The Sooners were just 1-of-15 from long range, leading to an effective field-goal percentage of just 40.2%, their lowest mark in eight Big 12 games.

Since then…

After getting trounced by the Longhorns, Oklahoma turned things around, aided in part by an easy stretch in their schedule. OU was able to string together four straight wins, including a road victory against Iowa State. At the friendly confines of the Lloyd Noble Center, the Sooners defeated Texas Tech, Colorado, and Baylor during the streak.

On Saturday, the Sooner train finally derailed with a road loss to Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Rivalry. Cade Davis and Fitzgerald each had 18 points against the Cowboys, but the Sooners sent OSU to the free throw line 44 times. The Cowboys made more free throws (36) than Oklahoma even attempted (26), and the disparity proved the difference in the 81-75 loss.

During the four-game winning streak, Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel found success by shrinking his bench. The Sooner starters played a stunning 88.4% of the minutes available in those four games, which included a pair of 70-plus possession games against Tech and Colorado.

Cameron Clark was the breakout star of that stretch, averaging 15 points per game. The athletic freshman even played all 40 minutes of the win over Baylor, and grabbed seven rebounds against a Bear team that has one of the longest frontcourts in the country. Clark is certainly overshadowed all of the big-name freshmen in the Big 12, but he’s going to be a household name in the very near future.

Meet the Sooners

For an in-depth look at all of the Oklahoma players, click right here to read our game preview from the January 15th meeting between these two schools.

Keys to the game

while the Sooners made just 1-of-15 from behind the arc against the Horns in Austin, Texas must again limit OU’s perimeter scoring tonight. We’ve seen our share of upsets in this building fueled by ridiculous Sooner three-point fiestas, and sharpshooter Steven Pledger is liable to light the Horns up at a moment’s notice. Just ask Iowa State, who saw the sophomore guard nail seven three-pointers in a 38-point effort up in Ames. If OU isn’t knocking down a ton of threes, it’s hard to see their offense keeping pace with the Longhorns tonight.

The Longhorns also must flex their muscles on the defensive glass. The Sooners are still one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the country, grabbing just 28.6% of their misses. In Austin, the Horns held OU to a 30.3% mark on the offensive glass, making it even tougher for the Sooners to score on the road. A similar performance tonight will make it very difficult for the Sooners to win the game, unless they are having a career night from the field.

Finally, Texas needs to shut down the scorer. During the team’s impressive five-game march through the league’s top teams, the Longhorn defense held Keiton Page, Khris Middleton, Josh Selby, and Marcus Denmon well below their season averages. On Saturday, Texas Tech’s John Roberson finally broke through against the UT defense and had a 16-point performance against the Horns.

Texas will likely find it difficult to shut down Fitzgerald, as they discovered in Austin earlier this year. The key is to once again find that lock-down defense that shut out Middleton and Page, and use it to limit the scoring from Pledger and Clark. As long as neither of those scorers are going off for 20-plus, it should be very hard for the Sooners to ride Fitzgerald to victory.

After surviving a brutal five-game stretch that included three road games and four games against teams ranked in the Top 25, the Texas Longhorns return to the Frank Erwin Center with a perfect 7-0 league mark. Fortunately, the team gets a breather tonight, hosting a Texas Tech team that they destroyed by 31 points in Lubbock in their conference opener.

This game should be incredibly lopsided. So lopsided, in fact, that Vegas is giving the Red Raiders an extra 20.5 points. Stat guru Ken Pomeroy and his supercomputer have the Horns as 99% to win the game, with a predicted 26-point margin of victory. Perhaps the biggest question heading into this game will be just how many minutes Andrew Dick, Dean Melchionni, and Trent Morgan see in the blowout.

The first meeting

When these two teams first met in Lubbock, the Longhorns abused Texas Tech inside. Texas posted a +19 rebounding margin and scored 50 points in the paint. The Red Raiders were limited to grabbing just 19.2% of their misses, and the string of one-and-done possessions doomed them to failure.

The dominating performance wasn’t limited just to the Texas frontcourt. Dogus Balbay scored nine points and secured five rebounds, while J’Covan Brown and Jai Lucas combined for 11 points off the bench.

The Red Raiders, meanwhile, had a hard time finding anyone to score. Big man Robert Lewandowski knocked down quite a few tough shots against the tight Longhorn defense, but his 13 points were the most on the team. Guard Javarez Willis also managed to provide a spark off the bench, scoring 10 points on 56% shooting from the field.

Since then…

That loss was the second of four that Tech suffered to open conference play. During that stretch, the Red Raiders lost by an average of 21.5 points per game.

But Tech rebounded nicely, compiling three wins to get back into the muddled mess in the middle of the conference standings. The Red Raiders edged out Nebraska at home before stealing a road win against Iowa State in Ames. They followed that up with an overtime win against OSU in Lubbock, but the momentum was stopped when they were thrashed by Kansas at home earlier this week.

The key to Tech’s resurgance was better performance on the offensive glass. After getting destroyed by the Longhorn rebounders, they had a pathetic 12.9% offensive rebounding percentage in a 34-point drubbing at K-State. In each of the three wins that followed, Tech had an OR% of at least 37.5%.

Mike Singletary and John Roberson were also instrumental in the brief winning streak for Texas Tech. After the pair combined for just 7 points in the loss to Texas, they combined to average 40.3 points per game in the team’s three wins.

Meet the Red Raiders

The Red Raiders are an experienced bunch, and as a result, four of their five leading scorers are seniors. To get a detailed breakdown on all of the retuning Tech players, check out our first preview from last season.

Coach Pat Knight is also getting contributions from three newcomers, who you can read about in our preview of the first game in Lubbock.

Keys to the game

As it was in Lubbock, this game should be one-sided from the start. That means that while this section is titled “Keys to the game,” it could easily be re-named “Ways to win by more points.”

The most important thing that the Longhorns did in Lubbock was dominate the inside game. Texas has a much bigger and more skilled frontcourt, and it led to 50 points in the paint in Lubbock. The Longhorns should have no problem doing more of the same tonight.

Texas will also enjoy a blowout victory if they win the rebounding battle. Tech is not going to grab a lot of offensive rebounds, but if Texas holds them to as few as they did in Lubbock, this thing could get ugly in a hurry. Tech is not a great shooting team — they find their greatest success against defenses that allow them a ton of backdoor cuts — so they will likely miss a ton of shots against a good Texas D tonight. If they aren’t getting many second chances, we could have a poleaxing on our hands at the Erwin Center.

Finally, Texas needs to stay in front of the basketball. The Red Raiders don’t break you down off the dribble, but they will beat you with quick cuts and crisp passing if you can’t see both the ball and your man. Fortunately, the Longhorns have had the most efficient D in college basketball this season, and held Tech to a pitiful 0.738 points per possession in Lubbock. It would be a major surprise to see the Red Raiders pick apart this Texas defense.

Tonight, the Texas Longhorns visit Reed Arena as one of the hottest teams in the country. This afternoon, they ascended to the 3rd spot in both national rankings, and have moved up to the 1- or 2-seed line in almost every bracket projection on the internet. The Longhorns are boasting their first 6-0 conference start since the school joined the Big 12 conference, and have a dominating defense that has allowed conference opponents just 0.842 points per possession.

All of that could be meaningless, however, as Reed Arena has been a house of horrors in recent years for the Texas Longhorns. A&M has won the last six meetings between the two schools, with the Aggies claiming a 74-58 victory last season. During that six-year stretch, Texas has sent two teams to the Elite Eight — those two teams lost by a combined 30 points in Reed Arena.

But if you had to pick a Texas team to break the curse, this year’s edition would be a safe bet. The Longhorns seem to thrive on hostile environments, grabbing road wins at Michigan State’s Breslin Center and in front of 21,000-plus clad in Carolina-blue at Greensboro Coliseum. And then, of course, there was the monumental comeback win against the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse that snapped Kansas’ 69-game home winning streak. These Longhorns have proven they can stand tall on the road, but a win at Reed Arena will still be a very tough task.

The first meeting

Tonight’s game is the second match-up for the Horns and Aggies, who squared off in Austin just two weeks ago. The Longhorns dominated from the start, jumping out to a 20-5 lead just seven minutes into the game. While A&M closed the gap to five points in less than five minutes, that was as close as the Aggies would ever get, and Texas cruised to an 81-60 win.

Texas A&M’s frontcourt was absolutely abused by the Longhorns in the first meeting. Texas posted a plus-eight rebounding margin, and grabbed more than 40% of their own misses. On the defensive end, the Horns held the Aggies to just a 33.3% offensive-rebounding mark, well off of their season average of 40.9%.

Texas A&M was frustrated all night, and it showed in the types of fouls they were whistled for. Ray Turner and Kourtney Roberson each were called for four fouls, forcing David Loubeau to play more minutes on a night where he was having difficulty containing Texas’ Tristan Thompson. The Canadian freshman finished with 18 points on the night, and added six rebounds in 30 minutes on the court.

Since then…

The Aggies have only played twice since that game in Austin, splitting the two contests. Texas A&M first knocked off Kansas State at home last Saturday, before dropping a game against Nebraska in Lincoln two days ago. The Aggies failed to score in the last 1:34 against Nebraska, allowing the Huskers to pull away for a 57-48 win.

During the two games, Dash Harris struggled at the point. Harris combined for five turnovers and just five assists in the two wins, while his typically-abysmal shooting continued. Against KSU and Nebraska, Dash was just 4-of-13 from the field.

Khris Middleton, meanwhile, continued to lead the way for Texas A&M, chipping in 30 points in the two games. Against the Wildcats, Middleton had a tough day from the field, but manufactured points for his team by getting to the line. Although he shot just 30% from the field, the sophomore knocked down 11 of 12 attempts at the line.

Meet the Aggies

Since this is the second meeting between the two teams this year, writing another in-depth look at the A&M roster would be a monumental waste of time. We suggest that you revisit the first game preview for more info on the Aggies than you probably ever wanted to know.

Keys to the game

As it was the first time these two teams met, controlling the glass will be key. The Aggies have found success this season by winning the rebounding battle, and Texas is one of the few teams that has managed to successfully keep A&M off the glass. If the Horns can once again limit second-chance points by clearing the defensive glass and can extend their own possessions by earning offensive rebounds, they have a much better chance to complete the season sweep.

All road environments are tough to fight through, but Reed Arena is one of the loudest places the Longhorns will play. Texas showed poise in coming back in front of a hostile Allen Fieldhouse crowd, so they need to draw on that experience when things get tough tonight. The Longhorns must fight through adversity if they are going to overcome the crowd and break the losing streak in College Station. When the Aggies go on a scoring run, the Texas offense must continue to be patient, and they cannot force shots in an effort to silence the crowd.

Finally, Texas would be wise to limit the perimeter scoring. The Horns did a great job shutting down the inside game of the Aggies in Austin — Loubeau, Nathan Walkup, and Turner combined for 19 points — but gave up a lot of three-pointers in the second half. Mark Turgeon does a great job slowing things down at home, and his stout defenses always make it very tough to put the ball in the basket. This adds up to a high likelihood for a very low-scoring affair tonight. The Horns can’t afford to let Texas A&M to sink many threes when their own points will likely be hard to come by.