Tennessee basketball vs. Texas A&M: Score prediction, scouting report for SEC game

Tennessee basketball is heading down to Texas for a key road game while trying to keep pace in the SEC standings.

The No. 6 Vols (17-5, 7-2 SEC) play at Texas A&M (14-8, 5-4) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) in College Station, Texas. UT is a half-game back of first place entering Saturday and the three-way tie between Alabama, Auburn and South Carolina.

Here is what to know about the matchup:

Zakai Zeigler is the SEC's best point guard

Zakai Zeigler compiled an absurd stat line at Kentucky with 26 points and 13 assists to match a career high and set a career high, respectively. He followed it with 17 points and nine assists against LSU with five steals.

The Vols point guard is racing toward All-SEC honors for such play. He leads the conference with 5.5 assists per game and has at least seven games with five or more assists.

"It feels like he’s hitting his stride and he’s taking that jump and it is really impressive, from the scoring to the facilitating to also what he does on the defensive side," Vols associate head coach Justin Gainey said.

Zeigler has hit 50% of his 3-pointers in the past two games, going 3-for-6 in each game. He has 43 points, 22 assists, eight steals and six rebounds in those games.

Texas A&M is an elite rebounding team

Texas A&M is one of the nation's best rebounding teams, especially on the offensive glass. The Aggies grab 43.6% of their misses, the top rate in the country according to KenPom.

UT allowed 18 offensive rebounds to LSU in its 88-68 win Wednesday. The Vols had a season-low 26 rebounds. Gainey noted that a lot of long shots led to long rebounds against LSU. He also praised the way Tigers guard Trae Hannibal crashed in to rebound.

"We’ve got to secure the ball with two hands and we are not doing enough of that right now," coach Rick Barnes said after the Vols beat the Tigers.

Texas A&M ranks second in the SEC with 43.3 rebounds per game, while forward Andersson Garcia leads the conference with 8.9 rebounds per game.

What Vols said about Texas A&M, Wade Taylor

Texas A&M has a standout pair of guards in Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford. Taylor is averaging 19.7 points but shooting 30% on 3-pointers after hitting 35.6% last season.

"They have two guards that are as good as any backcourt in the country with Wade and Radford," Gainey said. "Those guys are playing really well right now.”

COMPLETE: The thing Rick Barnes loved most from Jordan Gainey in Tennessee basketball vs. LSU

The Aggies play with the second-slowest tempo in SEC, playing faster than only South Carolina. They play a possession-centric game much of the time with offensive rebounding and tempo creating a possession game that can challenge opponent.

Score prediction

Tennessee 73, Texas A&M 66: The Vols can speed Texas A&M up and score at a high clip. That should be the recipe, while UT can also turn to a two-big lineup to counter what Texas A&M wants to do rebounding the ball.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

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