Texas A&M, a top-five team only two weeks ago, was back to full health and hungry for win. Sitting at last place in the SEC as the only winless team in the conference, A&M needed a win to salvage its spot as a contender in the league.
Its chances were helped by the return of D.J. Hogg, the team’s leading scorer, who was back in the lineup after serving a three-game suspension for a violation of team rules. Robert Williams, the team’s star and projected NBA lottery pick, was back after an illness kept him out of the home loss to LSU.