Aggies focused on eliminating second chances against No. 17 Auburn
Sixteen games into the Southeastern Conference basketball season, Texas A&M’s strategy won’t change.
The Aggies want opponents to shoot 3-pointers. Then, they must rebound the errant attempts to prevent second-chance opportunities.
The first part of that figures to be easy when A&M (14-14, 8-8) travels to face Auburn (24-5, 11-5) on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
The second part will be much more difficult.
Auburn wants to shoot 3-pointers. In fact, the Tigers have attempted the second-most treys (762) among SEC teams. They’ve also missed the most. Auburn’s 29.9 3-point shooting percentage is ranked 13th in the SEC.
However, Auburn averages 13.7 offensive rebounds, which ranks seventh in the entire nation. That’s a point of concern because the Aggies have often allowed opponents multiple shots.
“These guys (Auburn) are all talented, they are pros, but their game is not to catch and shoot 3’s,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams told TexAgs radio earlier this week. “Our defense is going to force you to shoot more 3’s than you want, and then it becomes a tug of war. We know you are going to try to get to the paint. We’ve got to do everything we can to keep you out of the paint so you shoot a three, and we need that to be contested.”
The Tigers pose several problems. Guard Samir Doughty, who has converted 48 treys, heads a list of six Auburn players who have made at least 26 shots from behind the arc. Forward Daniel Purifoy has hit 40 and guard J’Von McCormick has made 36.
That’s problematic enough. But Auburn also has one of the SEC’s best big men close to the basket. Center Austin Wiley, a 6-foot-11 senior, averages 10.6 points per game and is second in the conference in rebounding at 9.4 per game.
Of course, the Aggies can cause problems, too.
Forward Josh Nebo, who has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games, can challenge Wiley in the paint.
Also, junior guard Savion Flagg has continued a recent surge. He’s averaged nearly 14 points and has hit 22 times from 3-point range in the last six games. Further, senior guard Wendell Mitchell has averaged 14.8 points over the last five games.
However, there appears some uncertainty about the status of junior guard Quenton Jackson, who has been among A&M’s most productive players since February. He hurt a knee in a 64-50 loss to LSU last Saturday. As of Monday, Williams seemed unsure whether Jackson would be available against Auburn.
“I guess what happened is when he went to save the ball, he hit one of the rails, not necessarily to the stands, some metal apparatus,” Williams said on Monday. “It blew up like a contusion, a really huge blister, almost baseball size. Treatment was good but he will not practice. The swelling is down but not down to the point where he can move his knee in practice (on Monday).”
