Aggies look to overcome North Carolina mystique in second-round matchup
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina’s lineage and history are as rich and glorious as any college basketball program in the country.
Michael Jordan is among the Tar Heels decedents. So are Sam Perkins, James Worthy, Antwan Jamison and Phil Ford.
And none of them will be on the court on Sunday when seven-seed Texas A&M (21-12) clashes with the defending national champion and second-seeded Tar Heels (26-10) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Though those players may not be present, A&M must make sure their presence won’t be a factor.
Overcoming the North Carolina mystique may be the first step for the Aggies to survive and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Junior center Tyler Davis admitted North Carolina’s aura can be awesome.
“When you’re younger and you grew up watching (North Carolina) in high school and you hear about all the legends and the great teams, it’s hard not to (think about the mystique),” he said. “But as a group, we’ll do a great job of handling that. We’ll come out ready to play and with the mindset of getting ready to play hard.”
Freshman guard T.J. Starks agreed.
“We can’t worry about the name front on their jersey,” Starks said. “We’ve got a name on the front of our’s, too. We’re coming out for something, too. We’re both here for a reason. There ain’t no reason for us not to be ready.”
The Tar Heels, who routed Lipscomb in the first round, don’t need help from mystique. They’re an explosive team that averages 82 points and has won four of its last five — all against NCAA Tournament teams.
Luke Maye, a 6-8 junior forward, averages 17 points. So does 6-foot senior point guard Joel Berry. Maye also has the ability to score from the three-point line. He’s hit 49 three-pointers. Guard Cameron Johnson, guard Kenny Williams and forward Theo Pinson all average in double figures.
Of course, the Aggies have their own weapons.
Davis and Williams both registered double-doubles in a 73-69 first round victory over Providence in which the Aggies held a 44-26 edge in rebounding. They’re confident they will have an inside advantage against North Carolina, too.
“I feel like we always have the advantage on the inside,” Davis said. “But their bigs are really talented. It’s going to be a different way to guard them. They’re going to be tough to guard, but I feel like we have the versatility to guard any position.”
North Carolina coach Roy Williams acknowledged the Aggies at least have a size advantage inside.
“You watch Texas A&M and they just may be the biggest team I’ve ever looked at,” Williams said. “And so we’ve got to try to (rebound) at a higher level now than (against) anybody else we’ve played. We’ve had three, four games where the other team out-rebounded us.
“Duke out-rebounded us, and they’ve got similar size like that, but A&M’s got it through some their perimeter players as well. (Rebounding’s) got to be a primary focus for us.”
The Aggies are getting more production in the back court, too. Guard Admin Gilder has scored at least 10 points in each of the last 12 games. Starks continues to develop. He’s scored at least 15 points in five of the last six games and averaged 4.4 assists in those games. He still needs to reduce his turnovers, though.
He’ll need to be focused on what ia essentially a de facto home game for North Carolina. Charlotte is just 138 miles from Chapel Hill, N.C., so the Spectrum Center will be awash in Carolina blue.
However, A&M coach Billy Kennedy said the non-Southeastern Conference schedule prepared the Aggies for that. A&M played Arizona in Phoenix and played Kansas in Lawrence.
“You hope the preseason schedule of playing Arizona, playing Kansas … we’ve been through some of that as a team. Probably more so than any team I’ve coached,” he said. “You hope that helps prepare, but you never know until you go through it.
“This is a loose group. I’ve said all along sometimes it’s too loose. Hopefully, that will be good in this situation.”
The Aggies need to play loose. More importantly, they must play smart.
They must minimize North Carolina’s easy transition baskets. That means limiting turnovers, taking — and making — good shots and slowing down the Tar Heels’ fast break.
"We’re here to win,” Kennedy said. “We’ve told these guys we need to play a certain style of play. Transition defense is a big deal. We’ve got to be able to control the game. We can’t just run up and down. We’re treating this as a road game against a really good team.”
Several good teams have already fallen in this crazy tournament. Buffalo eliminated Arizona. Marshall ousted Wichita State. Sixteen seed Maryland-Baltimore County made history by stunning No. 1 seed Virginia.
A&M aims to add to that list of upsets.
“It’s a blessing to be able to play North Carolina,” Gilder said. “They’re the defending national champions. To be able to come and knock them off in Charlotte would be amazing.”