The fifth-year senior has been indispensable for the 7th-seeded Aggies (25-9, 17-4 SEC) as they dominated conference play over the past three months. Dennis has averaged 9.2 points per game, tied for the team lead in rebounds with 5.7 per game and has thrown in 1.2 assists a game as well -- all while normally guarding the opponent's best scorer.

Considering the importance he has within the program and the respect he receives from his teammates, you would think Dennis has been at A&M for all five of his college seasons. It is hard to imagine that his time in Aggieland has been a mere eight months, having arrived late in the summer from Wichita State.

"Just coming over here and being able to blend in with these guys is an amazing journey. I've learned a lot about myself and the coaches have been great with me," he said Wednesday. "I'm extremely grateful and extremely happy to be an Aggie. So I'm extremely thankful and I just love being here."

A&M coach Buzz Williams demurred when asked about Dennis matching up with Griffith Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena (8:55 p.m. central, TBS), saying, "We want to be careful what we say publicly about the game and our strategy." But he also acknowledged Dennis' role as the team's top defender.

"He's for sure the best perimeter defender on our team. I don't think that anybody in our organization would question that, and I think that I've said it to you throughout the year," Williams said. "I think that's the thing that has changed our team the most, is that he is our leading rebounder while also guarding the best player."

Williams praised Dennis' intelligence and work ethic, saying that those two attributes help set the 6-foot-5 native of Louisiana apart from most college basketball players.

"I think Dexter's competitiveness along with his IQ is what makes him so good," Williams said. "He absorbs the scouting report in a way that I've never seen a player absorb it. He does a lot of work away from the office to be prepared for what's in front of him. He's ultra mature in how he lives his life, but also in how he goes about his daily work. He's literally the same person every day."

Dennis' teammates have the same level of confidence in him, saying that the former AAC Defensive Player of the Year makes their lives easier on the defensive end of the court.

"(I'm) very confident (that he can slow down Griffith). Knowing he is going to be on the best player makes the rest of the team confident because we know what he brings to the table every night," point guard Wade Taylor said Wednesday.

Guard Tyrece "Boots" Radford agreed, saying the team knows Dennis can go one-on-one with elite scorers and make their lives difficult.

"He takes a lot of pressure off the rest of us, knowing that he's going to be guarding the best offensive player on the opposing team. That's the type of player he is. He's a great defender," Radford said.

Dennis' attributes go well beyond the defensive part of the game. While only hitting 30.2% of his 3-point attempts, they have tended to come at critical moments over the past two months. He's also been a force as an offensive rebounder and has been willing to attack the rim for points when A&M leads have been in danger.

Williams said his maturity and approach to the game has made Dennis a role model for his teammates, particularly former 5-star forward Manny Obaseki. Williams said he told Obaseki that while he was on the bench with an injury for nearly two months, that he should watch how Dennis approaches each game and learn from it.

"I was telling him, as he was sitting out, 'I know this is not fun, and I know you don't want to hear me say this. This is actually going to be good for you. I don't think that there is a better roommate for you to have on the road than Dexter and I don't think there is a better example for you to sit on the side and watch than Dexter,''" Williams recounted. "His maturity, his approach, his consistency, his impact on the game without having the ball in his hands, all of those things that you're watching and all of those things you're hearing, you are learning it in a different way because you can't be out there."

Clearly uncomfortable discussing himself, Dennis quickly tried to shift the subject to something else when asked about his importance to the team and the prospect of guarding an All-American Thursday night.

"I think it's going to be a great match-up, as always. I think Coach is going to depend on me to do a lot of things. It's going to be fun," he said.

As far as Williams is concerned, Dennis' short tenure at A&M has been a lot more than just "fun".

"To be able to guard the best player every night and lead your team in rebounding as a perimeter player, that just speaks to how competitive he is and how accountable he is in everything that he does," Williams said. "In the eight months that he's been here, his impact, I'm not sure can be quantified. I think he's as big of a reason as any that we are still playing."