Northern Kentucky at Texas A&M

Texas A&M beat Alabama State 97-66 on Tuesday, a game that held 163 combined points, even with seven Aggies making their debuts and PJ Haggerty scoring 22. The Aggies forced 25 turnovers and scored 30 points off them, and they outscored Alabama State 42-26 in the paint. Northern Kentucky opened with an 84-76 win over UTEP, a game of 160 combined points in which the Norse made 4 of 21 threes and 30 of 33 free throws. Free throws stop the clock, and NKU went 21 of 29 on twos in that game, so its offense runs through the paint and the line. Wednesday at South Dakota ran the other way. Northern Kentucky won 102-94 on 62.5% shooting, with Noah Pagotto scoring 30, and South Dakota shot 53.1%. NKU shot 50% against UTEP, so I treat the 62.5% as the outlier of its two games. Both of the Norse's opponents so far have been outside the SEC. Texas A&M is the first SEC defense NKU will see, and that defense held Alabama State to 66 points. Take the UNDER tonight, with Northern Kentucky facing the first SEC defense on its schedule.