Penn State heads to NCAA Tournament, but how will it fare against No. 7 seed Texas A&M?
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March Madness
Penn State men’s basketball is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. Read below for all of our coverage.
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For the first time in more than a decade, Penn State men’s basketball is going dancing.
The Nittany Lions earned an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament shortly after narrowly falling to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament title game. Penn State heads into the bracket as a No. 10 seed, eyeing a matchup against No. 7-seed Texas A&M at 9:55 p.m. Thursday.
Before the Nittany Lions head west to open the tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, here’s what you need to know about the Aggies and Penn State’s first-round history.
Scouting Texas A&M
On paper, the Aggies should pose a challenge to Penn State. Texas A&M, 25-9 on the season, enters the tournament coming off of an SEC Tournament championship loss to Alabama, now the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. Texas A&M ranked No. 17 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, released Monday.
The Aggies boast a program-best 15-3 regular-season record against conference opponents, but just a 10-6 mark in non-conference games. Notably, the team is 15-1 on its home court, but 7-4 on the road and just 3-4 at a neutral site. Texas A&M enters the NCAA Tournament winning 19 of its last 23 games.
Texas A&M’s poor play against non-conference opponents early in the season — including a 28-point loss to Colorado and close defeats to Memphis and Wofford — likely hurt the team’s NCAA Tournament seeding. National “bracketologists” have already argued the Aggies were dealt a tough hand during the Selection Show Sunday.
Texas A&M ranks No. 25 overall in the highly touted KenPom rankings, landing ahead of Penn State at No. 39. The rankings, organized by and named after acclaimed statistician Ken Pomeroy, rank all Division I men’s college basketball teams based on advanced metrics, including on-court efficiency and strength of schedule.
The Aggies rank 139th in the country by averaging 73.2 points per game, just ahead of the Nittany Lions’ 72.3 points per game. However, Texas A&M averages more converted free throws (19.2) and free throw attempts (25.3) than any other Division I program this season. The team’s free throw percentage, 75.9%, ranks 37th in the country.
Additionally, the Aggies average 36.8 rebounds per game and 12.6 assists per game. The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, average 32.6 rebounds and 13.9 assists per contest. Texas A&M’s 6.8 steals per game outpace Penn State’s 4.4.
Penn State should maintain a distinct advantage from beyond the three-point line against Texas A&M. The Nittany Lions rank No. 6 among Division I programs by averaging 10.4 made three-pointers per game, landing far ahead of the Aggies’ 6.1 converted threes per content. Penn State’s average attempts (27 per game) and conversion rate (38.5%) far outpace Texas A&M’s 18.6 attempts and 32.8% clip.
Defensively, Texas A&M holds the edge by allowing just 65.6 points per game across the 2022-23 season so far, ranking No. 54 among Division I programs. Penn State allows 68.2 points per game (No. 120).
Thursday’s tournament matchup will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Aggies and the Nittany Lions. Texas A&M holds a 4-0 record in the series, most recently winning 98-87 at the Bryce Jordan Center in November 2017.
Texas A&M is entering its 15th NCAA Tournament bracket and holds a 13-15 record in tournament play over the years. The Aggies’ most recent appearance came in 2018, and they earned a Sweet Sixteen berth in 2016.
Aggies to watch
Texas A&M star Wade Taylor IV is likely the best player on the Aggies 2022-23 roster. The sophomore guard serves as team’s top playmaker by averaging 16.5 points and four assists per game.
A first-team All-SEC honoree, Taylor has attempted the most three-pointers of any Aggie this year and owns a 36.8% conversion clip, third-best on the team. The Dallas native leads Texas A&M by making 87.5% of his free throws and paces the roster with 60 steals — double that of his next-closest teammate.
Taylor has scored double figures in all but six games so far this season. He’s entering the tournament with at least 18 points in eight of his last 10 contests.
Taylor’s fellow starting guard, Tyrece Radford, should serve as one of the Aggies’ top scoring options, too. The second-team all-SEC honoree ranks second on the team in points (450) and averages 13.2 points per game. He’s shot nearly 80% from the charity stripe this season and added 30 steals and nine blocks to his season-long totals.
Radford has logged more minutes (1,053) than any Texas A&M player this year and leads the team by averaging 31 minutes per game throughout his senior season.
Buzz Williams, the Aggies’ coach, is another figure to keep in mind as he leads Texas A&M into the tournament. The 2023 NCAA Tournament will be his first with the Aggies, but he previously took Marquette to the Big Dance five times from 2009 through 2013 and later brought Virginia Tech to the postseason tournament from 2017 through 2019.
Williams, who shares the SEC’s Coach of the Year honor with Vanderbilt’s Jerry Stackhouse, owns a 10-8 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play. Though he hasn’t won a championship before, he holds more postseason experience than Penn State’s Micah Shrewsberry, who guided the Nittany Lions to the tournament in just his second year.
Penn State’s first-round history
The Nittany Lions are heading to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. The berth marks the program’s 10th appearance in the postseason tournament’s history, though Penn State was all but certain to qualify for the 2020 NCAA Tournament before it was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s a look at how Penn State fared in the first matchups of its previous trips to the Big Dance:
- 1942: Penn State fell to Dartmouth 44-39 in the quarterfinals of the tournament, which was comprised of just eight teams at that point in time. The Nittany Lions went on to defeat Illinois 41-34 to claim third place in the bracket’s eastern region.
- 1952: Now with 16 teams in the field, Penn State fell to Kentucky 82-54 to open the NCAA Tournament and suffered a closer defeat when N.C. State topped the Nittany Lions in the eastern region’s third-place game.
- 1954: For the first time ever, Penn State opened the 24-team NCAA Tournament with a win when it topped Toledo 62-50 in the opening round. The Nittany Lions defeated LSU and Notre Dame en route to a Final Four appearance, but lost to La Salle 69-54. Penn State beat USC 70-61 to claim third place.
- 1955: Penn State began the tournament with a close 59-55 win over Memphis State before losing to Iowa in the Sweet Sixteen. The Nittany Lions lost again when they met Kentucky in the regional third-place game.
- 1965: Ten years later, Penn State returned to the NCAA Tournament only to lose to Princeton 60-58 in the opening round.
- 1991: The No. 13-seeded Nittany Lions got back on track in the tournament, now with 64 teams in the field, thanks to an upset 74-69 victory over No. 4-seeded UCLA. Bruce Parkhill’s Penn State team lost an overtime thriller to No. 12 Eastern Michigan in the second round.
- 1996: Entering the tournament with the highest seed in program history, the No. 5 Nittany Lions fell to No. 12 Arkansas 86-80 in the opening round.
- 2001: Penn State made its way to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed and defeated Providence 69-59 in the opening round. The Nittany Lions pulled out an upset victory over No. 2 UNC in the second round before falling 84-72 to No. 11 Temple in the Sweet Sixteen.
- 2011: Temple would come back to bite the Nittany Lions a decade later when the No. 7 Owls closely defeated No. 10 Penn State 66-64 to open the tournament.
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 10:17 AM.
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