Tennessee is at the top of the SEC standings after Saturday’s win while Texas A&M sustained another blow to its NCAA Tournament hopes.

Just two weeks ago, the Aggies were riding high after an upset win over the Vols. However, the two teams have taken completely different trajectories since that night.

Tennessee responded with 4 straight wins (3 in blowout fashion), and Saturday’s win over A&M was arguably the best performance from that group. Meanwhile, the Aggies have lost 4 straight and are running out of time to boost their resume.

As for the SEC race, Tennessee and Alabama are on a collision course for a crucial March 2 showdown in Tuscaloosa after the Tide were blown out by Kentucky Saturday afternoon. It will be an interesting finish as the regular season winds down.

Here are the key takeaways from Tennessee’s impressive win:

Zakai Zeigler shines in rout

It is hard to find a more well-rounded and flawless outing from a point guard than the one Zakai Zeigler had. While he fell just short of a triple-double, Zeigler still managed to set a new career-high in the win.

He finished the night with 9 points, 9 rebounds and a new career-high with 14 assists to go with 4 steals. Remarkably, Zeigler did all that without committing a turnover.

With Zeigler leading the offense, Tennessee is well-equipped for the postseason with a steady presence at point guard. The Vols are not lacking options, but he is the one to get things started .

Texas A&M’s NCAA Tournament hopes take a hit

The Aggies are sliding at the absolutely worst spot in the season, and they are running out of time to get things turned around. Saturday’s loss makes it a 4-game losing streak for Texas A&M since upsetting Tennessee 2 weeks ago.

Entering the weekend, the Aggies had slid all the way to the “last team in” on Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology for ESPN, but their outlook shifted even further before tipoff rolled around. That’s because Wake Forest, previously Lunardi’s “first team out,” stunned No. 8 Duke to boost the Demon Deacons’ shot at March Madness.

Prior to the start of Saturday night’s game, Lunardi had dropped the Aggies to the “first team out,” and it’s possible A&M winds up even lower before Sunday wraps up. The rest of the schedule also presents a problem as it is not conducive to making up a lot of ground.

The Aggies will face No. 20 South Carolina at home next week, and that will be an opportunity to get a statement win. Outside of that, the Aggies will face Georgia, Mississippi State and Ole Miss before the SEC Tournament. Fans can check out SDS’s best sports betting links to track all the postseason odds.

Tennessee suffocates A&M’s 3-point shooting

The Aggies entered Saturday’s game with a clear plan to test the Vols from the 3-point line. That’s an area that paid off for the Aggies in the upset 2 weeks ago while hitting 11 buckets from deep and shooting 39% from 3-point line in that win.

This time around, Texas A&M attempted 22 3-pointers in the first half after attempting 28 all game long 2 weeks ago. The results were also disastrous with the Aggies shooting 5-for-22 in the first half and falling behind by 37-27 at the break.

Texas A&M kept the barrage going on after halftime but could not find a spark. The Aggies finished the game 7-for-34 (20%) from 3-point range as the Vols shut down the effort and rolled in a big way.