Texas A&M v. Texas

What will be the GAME RESULT?

Texas A&M: Wins or Single Digit Loss

Texas: Wins By Double Digits

Current odds:

Texas A&M Aggies: (+375)

Texas Longhorns: (-550)

• The line for this game is Texas by 10 points.

• Andrew Jones has made a remarkable comeback from leukemia and may have just played his finest game since his return. Jones and the Longhorns seek to continue their best start under fifth-year coach Shaka Smart and their dominance of Texas A&M when the teams meet Sunday in the Lone Star Showdown at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Tex. Jones, who played just two games last season before being diagnosed, tied a career high with 20 points while converting a career-best 6-of-8 3-pointers during Tuesday’s 67-57 win against UAB. Sophomore guard Courtney Ramey tallied 13 points while converting 3-of-6 from 3-point range and added a team-high five rebounds and four assists, and junior Jericho Sims recorded 10 points and two blocks.

• The Aggies have struggled, with their three wins having come against teams ranked outside the top 200 by KenPom – two outside the top 300 – and they lost three straight to Harvard, Temple and Fairfield in the Orlando Invitational. Texas A&M trimmed a nine-point deficit to three with consecutive 3-pointers from Savion Flagg, but the junior guard missed a potential game-tying trey before the Stags finished off a 67-62 win last Sunday.

• Flagg (10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists) finished with 17 points and a season-high five 3-pointers, Quenton Jackson (7.4 points) had 15 and a season-high five assists and Wendell Mitchell (9.6 points) added 14 against Fairfield. Josh Nebo gives the Aggies some presence in the interior, averaging 10 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 24.3 minutes; the 6-9 senior ranks 17th in the nation in block percentage (12.7). The Aggies have not been able to shoot the ball, ranking 339th in effective field-goal percentage (2- and 3-pointers, 41.5) and 23.9 percent beyond the arc – 347th – despite attempting 42.5 percent of their shots from long-range.

• Jones ranks second on the team in scoring (12.4 points) while hitting 37 percent from 3-point range but has taken just eight free throws. Ramey (9.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists) has averaged 13.5 points while hitting 8-of-17 field goals, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range, in his last two contests, while point guard Matt Coleman is the glue (team-leading 13.8 points, 4.9 assists and 50 percent beyond the arc). Texas has held its first eight opponents to an average of 59.5 points on a combined 40.6 shooting, including a 32.2 percent mark from 3-point range, and its 91.6 defensive efficiency ranks No. 44 in Division I.

• Texas leads the all-time series 137-86, but Texas A&M won the last meeting 84-73 on Nov. 25, 2015, in the Bahamas. The Longhorns have won five of six overall and 42 of the last 52.

• The Longhorns’ weakness on offense is not getting to the line – they rank 339th in the nation in free throw/field-goal attempt ratio (19.4 percent) – and their over-reliance on the 3-pointer, converting only 32.1 percent of their attempts despite launching 45.7 percent of their shots from long-range.

• Nebo is the NCAA’s active career leader in blocks with 227.