Texas A&M vs. Arkansas prediction and odds for Tuesday, January 31 (Take Aggies as underdogs)

The most impressive team in SEC hits the road to face a floundering team that hasn’t looked like an NCAA Tournament squad for a few weeks now.

Texas A&M is 7-1 in SEC play with its lone loss at Kentucky, including wins at Auburn and a pair of wins against Florida and now travels to face Arkansas, who is 3-5 in league games and coming off a Big 12/SEC Challenge loss to Baylor on the road.

Can the Aggies keep it rolling on the road or will Arkansas find answers on the offensive end? Let’s break it down by first checking out the odds:

Texas A&M vs. Arkansas odds, spread and total

Texas A&M vs. Arkansas prediction and pick

This is not a good schematic matchup for Arkansas, who struggles to generate good looks for the perimeter and is facing Texas A&M, who forces the second furthest average shot according to Haslametrics. Arkansas is outside the top 300 nationally in 3-point percentage on the season, so if this becomes a shot making contest, give me the Aggies.

We saw on Saturday when Arkansas faced the team that is No. 1 in the nation in average shot distance on defense, Baylor, that the Razorbacks can struggle to keep up, squandering a halftime lead on the road.

Since Jan. 1, Texas A&M rates as the fifth best team in the country according to Bart Torvik. This team is humming on both sides of the ball and Arkansas’ propensity to allow dribble penetration can get them into trouble against the Aggies that are elite at finishing at the rim and also draw a ton of fouls, the most in SEC play. That’s a big issue against the Hogs, who are the worst SEC team in terms of limiting fouls.

If Texas A&M gets into the bonus early, it can make Arkansas pay, they shoot 75% from the free throw line in conference games, which is much better than Arkansas’ 66% SEC free throw percentage.

Just last week, Texas A&M closed a 4.5-point favorite at Auburn and won by 16. I see a similar situation here with the better team catching over a bucket on the road and will happily take the points in a game where they match up very well against a poor shooting opponent.

Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.