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As Vanderbilt goes through a season of unmet expectations, Texas A&M continues to exceed its own. The No. 8 Aggies look to hold on to sole possession of first place in the SEC while the host Commodores try to boost their fading NCAA Tournament hopes Thursday night. Offensive inconsistency and a challenging schedule have combined to render Vanderbilt (12-9, 4-4), ranked 18th in the preseason Top 25, among the season's biggest disappointments. Continue to Article

February 03, 2016 2:01:pm EST

Texas A&M's return to prominence has been several years in the making. You will have to excuse coach Billy Kennedy if he gets a little choked up when asked about the rise of the Aggies in his fifth year in College Station. The 10th-ranked Aggies have reeled off nine straight wins and their 6-0 start in the Southeastern Conference is their best in league play since they won seven straight to open the 1993-94 season in the Southwest Conference. Continue to Article

January 20, 2016 2:11:pm EST

The favorite to win the SEC this season is neither perennial juggernaut Kentucky nor an LSU team headlined by the nation's best freshman. Those two oft-discussed programs aren't playing at nearly as high a level as under-the-radar Texas A&M. One day after cracking the top 10 in the AP poll for the first time since 2009, Texas A&M gave a performance worthy of its lofty ranking. Jalen Jones scored 20 points and Tyler Davis tied a season-high with 18 as the Aggies extended their winning streak to nine with a 71-57 victory over LSU. Texas A&M's win improved its record to 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the SEC, two or more games clear of every team in the league besides second-place South Carolina. The Aggies boast nine victories against KenPom top 100 teams including quality wins over Baylor, Gonzaga, Texas and Florida. Why is Texas A&M enjoying more success this season than any other under Billy Kennedy? The main reason is that Kennedy has done an exceptional job meshing a nucleus of established returners with a star-studded recruiting class. The Aggies are a complete team with a top 25 offense and defense, senior leadership and depth everywhere on the floor. They share the ball, they work hard on the glass and defensively and they don't seem to mind that they don't get the attention other top 10 teams do. Jones is a long, athletic 6-foot-7 forward with a relentless motor and a rapidly improving outside shot. Top perimeter threat Danuel House is an athletic slasher with the speed and strength to get to the basket and finish through contact. Alex Caruso and Anthony Collins are both pass-first point guards and quick-handed defenders, Davis is a promising freshman big man capable of controlling the paint and forward D.J. Hogg and guard Admon Gilder both are highly touted freshmen as well. Texas A&M shot unusually poorly from the perimeter against LSU, but everything else the Aggies do well was on display Tuesday night. They dominated the paint, they forced 19 LSU turnovers and they limited Ben Simmons to a modest 10 points by limiting his transition opportunities and daring him to shoot jumpers in the half court. Remarkably, Texas A&M only has three remaining games against Top 25 teams — home games against Iowa State, South Carolina and Kentucky. The Aggies may not get the attention other top teams do, but they're well positioned to win the SEC title. - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

January 20, 2016 12:00:am EST

On the same day as Texas A&M cracked the top 10 in the AP poll for the first time in eight years, the Aggies also dealt with some disappointing news. Sophomore Tonny Trocha-Morelos was arrested early Sunday morning in College Station on charges of driving while intoxicated. According to a n arrest report obtained by College Station-based TV station WTAW , Trocha-Morelos was pulled over at about 1:30 a.m. for driving without headlights. Police arrested the Texas A&M forward after he failed field sobriety tests. Trocha-Morelos, a 6-foot-10 native of Colombia, averages 7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 18.2 minutes per game. Texas A&M policy dictates that any athlete who is arrested is suspended indefinitely until a meeting with the school's athletic director. "I have been made aware of the charge," Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said in a statement. "Once all the facts are gathered, we will take the proper action and the matter will be handled internally." There will be more pressure on freshman big man Tyler Davis if Trocha-Morelos misses games because of his arrest. Davis would be the Aggies' lone true big man in that situation since fellow freshman Elijah Thomas transferred to Clemson nine games into the season. Texas A&M (15-2, 5-0) has been the best team in the SEC so far this season, but the Aggies get a potentially big challenge from second-place LSU on Tuesday in College Station. They also have big games upcoming in the next few weeks against Iowa State, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

January 18, 2016 4:03:pm EST

When Vanderbilt won eight of its final 10 league games last season to reach the NIT, the Commodores appeared to be trending upward. They returned nearly every key player from that team this season including 7-foot NBA prospect Damian Jones, rapidly improving point guard Wade Baldwin IV and an array of shooters with which to surround them. That such a promising nucleus hasn't produced more success so far this season makes Vanderbilt one of the nation's biggest disappointments. The Commodores fell 68-64 at undefeated South Carolina on Saturday, their third loss in a row to start SEC play and their seventh loss in their last 10 games. Halfway through the season, Vanderbilt (8-7, 0-3) has no noteworthy wins besides a neutral-court victory over a decent Wake Forest team. The Commodores have played the seven best opponents on their non-conference schedule tough, but they've lost each game, all but one by eight or fewer points. They couldn't hold a 10-point first half lead against Kansas in the Maui Invitational title game and lost by seven. They lost by two on the road at Baylor two weeks later. Even Saturday's loss at South Carolina, Vanderbilt fell only a couple baskets short despite missing 19 of its final 22 shots. Why hasn't Vanderbilt been able to get over the hump in a few of those games? One problem has been that Jones has not been able to make the strides many projected from him as a junior. His 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game are similar to what he produced last season. Another factor is the knee injury that sidelined emerging big man Luke Kornet for five games. Vanderbilt went 2-3 in that stretch in part because the Commodores missed his offensive versatility, his rebounding and his ability to protect the rim either alongside Jones or without him. Rebounding and turnovers also have been season-long issues for the Commodores. For a team with two 7 footers in its starting five, Vanderbilt is a surprisingly poor rebounding team. The Commodores are 274th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, 113th nationally in defensive rebounding percentage and they've been bludgeoned on the glass in losses against Dayton, Purdue and LSU. Vanderbilt also can be susceptible to defensive pressure against opponents with high-major athleticism, as evidenced by their 26 turnovers at Arkansas earlier in the week and their 17 turnovers last Saturday against LSU. Too many self-inflicted mistakes have short-circuited the Commodores in those games. So is there hope for Vanderbilt? Can the Commodores correct some of those problem areas in time to make a second-half push for an NCAA bid? It's possible, but they've dug themselves a deep hole. Vanderbilt is already 0-3 in the SEC and two games apiece against Kentucky, Texas A&M and Florida remain on the schedule. The Commodores will get credit from the NCAA tournament selection committee for playing so many tough games in and out of conference play, but they'll have to start winning some of those for it to truly matter. - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

January 09, 2016 7:46:pm EST

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