WHERE: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas

WHEN: Tuesday, 9 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 16-8, 4-7; Texas A&M 18-5; 7-3

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Jon Sunvold); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie).

Pregame Notes

After losing a heartbreaker to No. 22 Mississippi State on Saturday, Georgia will try to recover from its latest defeat Tuesday night against another ranked team.

No. 8 Texas A&M won’t be easy.

The Aggies are coming off a big road victory over a ranked Missouri squad. They appear to be back on track, having won five of their last six games.

Georgia, meanwhile, is still projected as an NCAA Tournament team by virtually everyone predicting a bracket, including ESPN.com. In fact, as of Monday, bracketmatrix.com, which attempts to track every bracket prediction published, confirms that Georgia is currently included in all 86 active prognostications for March Madness.

But the odds aren't particularly favorable. Georgia has seven conference losses and is about to play three straight games against ranked teams: Texas A&M, Missouri, and Florida.

Especially if the Bulldogs continue to make mistakes head coach Mike White feels cost them the win against Mississippi State.

“The things that are easier, or easiest to control, when you shoot it and it goes in and your student body is going crazy … if we have five guys turn around and sprint back on defense … we did a poor job of that,” White said. “If we just do an average job of that, we would have won the game.”

The Aggies won’t make it any easier.

Texas A&M is the league’s third-ranked defense, holding opponents to just 39.8 percent from the field.

The Bulldogs aren’t far behind. Georgia allows opponents to shoot just 40.4 percent but is converting only 46 percent of its own shots.

However, the Aggies have issues too.

Despite being the second-ranked defensive rebounding team (31.74 per game), Texas A&M sometimes has trouble putting the ball in the basket.

The Aggies rank last in the SEC in shooting percentage (42.9 percent), including .313 from three, next to last in the league.

Asa Newell was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season on Monday (Feb. 10), tying Anthony Edwards (2019-20) for the most SEC FOTW certificates by a Georgia Bulldog.

Newell also was honored on Nov. 18 – after he averaged 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 assists in a pair of wins over Georgia Tech and North Florida – on Dec. 9 – after posting game-high tallies of 20 points and 11 rebounds in Georgia’s 69-48 victory over Notre Dame in the SEC/ACC Challenge – and on Jan. 13 – after he averaged 16.0 ppg and was Georgia’s leading scorer in wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma.

Newell is one of 10 Bulldogs who have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors a combined 17 times since the award’s inception in 1988.

Texas A&M is currently 18-5 overall, including a 7-3 SEC mark, and ranked No. 8 and No. 9 in this week’s Associated Press and coaches polls, respectively.

Following back-to-back losses to No. 5 Alabama and No. 8 Kentucky, the Aggies have won five of their last six outings, including a dramatic 67-64 decision at No. 15 Missouri last Saturday.

Wade Taylor IV and Zhuric Phelps provide the Aggies with a potent 1-2 scoring punch. Taylor is averaging 15.1 ppg, while Phelps is contributing 14.7.