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AggieYell.com breaks down the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament first round matchup between 4th-seeded Texas A&M (23-10) and 5th-seeded Michigan (26-9).
Texas A&M projected starters
F Henry Coleman III (Sr.; 6-8, 250; 7.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG)
F Andersson Garcia (Sr.; 6-7, 220; 5.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG)
G Hayden Hefner (Sr.; 6-6, 190; 4.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG)
G Manny Obaseki (Sr.; 6-4, 200; 6.5 PPG, 1.7 RPG)
G Wade Taylor IV (Sr.; 6, 180; 15.7 PPG, 4.3 APG)
Texas A&M key reserves
F Pharrel Payne (Jr.; 6-9, 250; 9.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG)
F Solmon Washington (Jr.; 6-7, 220; 4.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG)
G Zhuric Phelps (Sr.; 6-4, 190; 14.1 PPG, 5 RPG)
G CJ Wilcher (Sr.; 6-5, 210; 4.4 PPG, .8 RPG)
G Jace Carter (Sr.; 6-6, 225; 3.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG)
Michigan projected starters
C Vladislav Goldin (Gr.; 7-1, 250; 16.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG)
F Danny Wolf (Jr.; 7, 250; 13 PPG, 9.9 RPG)
G Namari Burnett (Gr.; 6-5, 200; 9.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG)
G Rubin Jones (Gr.; 6-5, 190; 3.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG)
G Tre Donaldson (Jr.; 6-3, 195; 11.6 PPG, 4.2 APG)
Michigan key reserves
G Roddy Gayle Jr. (Jr.; 6-5, 205; 9.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG)
F Will Teschetter (RS-Jr.; 6-8, 230; 6.6 PPG, 2.5 RPG)
G L.J. Cason (Fr.; 6-2, 190; 4.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG)
Common opponents: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Purdue, Oregon, Rutgers, Ohio State, Wake Forest
A&M beat Wake Forest 57-44 at home on Dec. 3, 2024; Michigan lost at Wake 72-70 on Nov. 10, 2024
A&M beat Oklahoma in Norman 80-78 on Jan. 8 and 75-68 at home on Jan. 28; Michigan lost to OU in Norman 87-86 on Dec. 16, 2024
A&M beat Purdue 70-66 on Dec. 14, 2024 in Indianapolis; Michigan lost to Purdue 91-64 at Purdue on Jan. 24, then beat them 75-73 in Ann Arbor on Feb. 11 and 86-68 in the Big Ten Tournament on March 14
A&M lost to Oregon 80-70 on Nov. 26, 2024 in Las Vegas; Michigan beat Oregon 80-76 on Feb. 5 in Ann Arbor
A&M beat Rutgers 81-77 on Nov. 30, 2024 in Las Vegas; Michigan beat Rutgers 66-63 at Rutgers on Feb. 1 and 84-82 in Ann Arbor on Feb. 27
A&M beat Ohio State 78-64 at home on Nov. 15, 2024; Michigan beat Ohio State 86-83 on Feb. 16 in Columbus
A&M beat Arkansas 69-61 at home on Feb. 25; Michigan lost to Arkansas 89-87 at Arkansas on Dec. 10, 2024
Key matchups
Michigan's bigs against A&M's bigs: The Aggies have handled teams with big front lines pretty well this season -- they kept Alabama's big men at bay, but guard Mark Sears torched them for 27. They held Auburn's duo of Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell to a combined 16 points as Henry Coleman and Pharrel Payne scored 18 and A&M led wire-to-wire.
Michigan is a little different, because the majority of their offense comes from Goldin and Wolf -- and they're a couple of inches taller than previous competition. Goldin works in the post, so he'll draw Payne and Coleman; Wolf, on the other hand, can shoot from anywhere on the floor and will likely face off with Andersson Garcia and Solomon Washington.
The matchup between Wade Taylor and Tre Donaldson will be interesting, but this is the ballgame. If A&M's big men can minimize the damage done by Michigan's big two, they'll win the game.
