Aggies assuming nothing ahead of road test with South Carolina

Just days ago, Texas A&M confounded the Southeastern Conference’s highest-scoring basketball team.

Therefore, it would seem a safe assumption the Aggies will frustrate the league’s lowest-scoring team.

Well … actually, that could be a dangerous assumption.

The Aggies (11–5, 3-0) aren’t taking anything for granted when they travel to face South Carolina (8-8, 1-2) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in a game televised on the SEC Network.

Instead, they’re focused on avoiding “Jacob.”

Coach Buzz Williams explained:

“We refer to assuming things as a person and his name is ‘Jacob,’” Williams said. “Anytime there’s an assumption, we say, ‘You can’t be Jacob.’”

“So, in not just a road game, not just South Carolina, just stereotypically speaking. There’s multiple people within the program saying we can’t be Jacob on certain issues.”

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Buzz Williams and Co. aim for 4-0 start to conference play for the second-straight season.

Any SEC road trip can be treacherous. That’s especially the case when facing an improving opponent like South Carolina, which owns a six-game winning streak over A&M.

Also, South Carolina is coming off a stunning 71-68 victory over Kentucky.

South Carolina junior guard Meechie Johnson scored 26 points and hit six of the Gamecocks’ 11 treys in that game.

“They were tremendous in their ball screen reads against Kentucky,” Williams said. “They were elite at shooting the ball from the perimeter. When they missed, their offensive rebound percentage on the road was as good as you could ever hope for.”

However, that was just the third time the Gamecocks have exceeded 70 points in regulation. They’re averaging an SEC-low 64.7 points per game. They also have the league’s lowest field goal percentage (40.1 percent).

Therefore, the Gamecocks might seem like easy pickings. In three SEC victories. A&M has limited Florida to 63 points, LSU to 56 and Missouri, which leads the SEC in scoring, to just 64.

Further, A&M has allowed SEC opponents to shoot just 38.1 percent from the field (58 of 152) and has forced an average of 14.6 turnovers.

Williams credited assistant coach Devin Johnson for much of that defensive success.

“I think Devin has done a really good job of making adjustments to the core of what we do defensively,” Williams said. “I think through three (SEC) games our guys have been borderline elite at handling those adjustments.”

“When you start getting into conference play where personnel is different and the value of the possession is increased, I think those adjustments are the difference.”

The Aggies are surging on the offensive end, too.

Senior guard Tyrece Radford has scored at least 14 points in each of the last five games. Guard Dexter Dennis, who leads A&M in rebounding, has hit in double figures in the last two games.

Forward Julius Marble has averaged 15 points over the last three games, while sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV continues to lead the Aggies with a 15.3 scoring average. 

Taylor, Dennis and Hayden Hefner, who came off the bench, all hit three times from 3-point range in the victory over Missouri.

A&M also leads the nation in free throws per game, while Radford and Taylor are covering better than 80 percent at the foul line.

The Aggies figure to maintain their offensive surge against South Carolina, which is ranked 13th in the SEC in scoring defense.

But, of course, they are not assuming anything.