Texas opened the SEC season at Texas A&M almost three weeks ago, held tough throughout the first half but faded down the stretch in College Station. 

Saturday is a chance to gauge how much the Longhorns have improved.

The 13th-ranked Aggies (15-4, 4-2 SEC) have appeared to grow only stronger in January. A&M registered a huge come-from-behind win at Oklahoma and won at Ole Miss on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

Meanwhile, Texas (13-6, 2-4) struggled on the road at Florida but cranked up the defense Tuesday night to knock off surging Missouri.

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The A&M-Texas rematch is a chance for the Horns to get their third Quad 1 victory and remind the rest of the league they’re still alive and kicking.

“Our team has grown tremendously from our first league game to where we are right now,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “Just understanding how competitive you have to be in this league, how physical you have to be in this league, how you have the value taking care of the basketball, how important it is with player movement, ball movement, you know, we’ve learned a lot.”

A&M guard Wade Taylor IV missed three games with an apparent groin injury but got a huge ovation when he returned last weekend against LSU. “I would clap for him if I was a fan,” A&M coach Buzz Williams noted.

Taylor had 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting with four assists. But for the Aggies, it was more important to have their floor general back out there.

“I knew I had to give my team 100 percent. I couldn’t come back with anything less than that,” Taylor told reporters afterward. “I had to be 100 percent to give my team what they needed from me. I’m thankful I waited and the guys stepped up and we came up with some wins.”

Williams said the Aggies were cautious with Taylor’s rehab.

"Yeah, we just kind of follow whatever the doctors have as far as protocol relative to whatever the specificity of the injury is,” Williams said. “He has made progress since the Sunday after Texas, but it has been marginal. He's kind of following his own itinerary different than us, but I think he's made good progress.”

Texas needs more momentum before next week’s trip to Oxford to face former coach Chris Beard at Ole Miss. Then, UT is headed to LSU before coming home to get three of the next four at Moody Center.

This is a small window for Texas to right-size its league record, but again, it’s tight.

“They’re a physical team,” Terry said of A&M. “I thought we did a very we did a really good job in the first half over there, keeping them off the glass and second chance opportunities.

“You’ve got to do a great job of taking care of the basketball, strong with the basketball. This is a grown man’s game.”