Can No. 5 Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, now the nation’s leading scorer, drop 30 (or more) points on No. 4 Texas?

On Monday night, both No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Vanderbilt earned critical conference wins—albeit in very different fashions.

Texas held on against No. 16 Kentucky, 64-53, in a game where offense became increasingly scarce. Up by 10 points at the break, 38-28, the Longhorns shot just 6-for-22 in the second half, a showing so frigid that the Wildcats were able to cut the margin to one-point midway through the fourth quarter, even though Texas allowed Kentucky to score just 25 total points after halftime. For the game, Madison Booker managed just eight points on only six shot attempts; she shot 1-for-6 from the field and collected six of her points at the foul line. Justice Carlton’s 17 points led the Longhorns in the unglamorous victory.

Up in Nashville, offense overflowed as Vanderbilt beat No. 10 Oklahoma, 102-86. Mikayla Blakes led Vandy with 34 points, her third-straight game of at least 30 points, while Aubrey Galvan netted a career-high 30. That means the Commodore backcourt combined for as many points as the entire Longhorn team.

To say Thursday’s matchup between the two teams profiles as a contrast of styles might be underestimating things (7:30 p.m. ET, SECN+).

Vanderbilt, the home team, will be happy if this becomes another offense-first affair. Texas, meanwhile, will hope to set on defensive tone. So, which side can set the term of engagement and emerge with a top-five victory that will put them in second place in the SEC standings?

How many buckets will Mikayla Blakes get? And can Madison Booker keep pace?

Vanderbilt’s offense, sixth-best in the nation with an offensive rating of 116.5, was not earned against overmatched non-conference opponents. The Commodores have continued to pour in the points in SEC play.

In conference action, Vandy scores a conference-best 84.5 points per game, with that prolific production powered by their 3-point shooting—plus Blakes. With an average of 10 made 3s per game, the Commodores earn 30 points from behind the arc per game, and Blakes also gives her team nearly 30 per game. For the season, the sophomore super-scorer in averaging 25.9 points per game, surpassing Iowa State’s Audi Crooks for the top spot in the nation. In the SEC, her scoring has been even more electric, with Blakes torching conference foes for 29.4 points per game.

Blakes’ effectiveness as a scorer comes not from her efficiency, but from her relentlessness. She’s going to keep coming. That mentality helps her supplement sometimes-inefficient shooting nights with almost-free points from the foul line. She’s earning nearly seven free throws per game in the SEC, and swishing them at almost 90 percent.

Blakes’ scoring is more resilient than that of Booker. The point production of the Longhorns’ leading scoring is dependent on her efficiency. As Booker takes less 3s and earns fewer free throws than Blakes, her jumper has to fall for her to have an impactful scoring night. If not, she’s prone to lower outputs, as she experienced against Kentucky.

Can the Longhorns lock down on defense? Can the Commodore defense cause enough disruption?

But while Blakes almost always has to have a big night for Vanderbilt to be victorious, especially against top-tier opponents, Texas can survive scarce offensive efforts from Booker because head coach Vic Schaefer wants to win with defense.

The Longhorns have the fourth-best defense in the nation, a standing they’ve maintained by allowing less than 60 points per game in conference play. SEC opponents, for comparison, are scoring 73.5 points per game against the Commodores.

Texas succeeds by making all aspects of offense difficult. They limit shots from inside and outside the arc. They don’t commit an excess of fouls. They force opponents to score in isolation. They end possessions with elite defensive rebounding. They led the SEC in steals per game at 10.7, led by Rori Harmon’s 3.1 per game in SEC action, and induce the second-most turnovers at 19.2.

Vanderbilt, however, is third in the conference in steals per game at 9.6, with Blakes and Galvan combining for more than five per game, and first in opponent turnovers per game at 19.9. Although their aggression risks defensive breakdowns, it can also disrupt their opponents designs, allowing them to turn defense into offense as they put even more points on the scoreboard.

Aggressive, athletic defenses have given Texas some problems this season, making the matchup with the Commodores somewhat concerning for the Longhorns. In losses to LSU and South Carolina, Texas committed 17 and 19 turnovers, respectively. Vandy also has succeeded in turning over elite teams, encouraging a season-high 22 turnovers from LSU and Oklahoma. Although, equally-aggressive SEC defenses have made Vandy make more mistakes, with the SEC’s lowest-turnover team coughing up the ball 19 times in losses to South Carolina and Ole Miss.

While a potential bucket-getting battle between Blakes and Booker would be quite fun, the down-and-dirty possession battle might very well determine which team wins this SEC battle.