Aggies look to start strong, eliminate mistakes against struggling Beavers
Everyone wants a day off.
Well, unless you’re Texas A&M basketball coach Buzz Williams. A day off is not welcome following an off day.
The Aggies were looking forward to facing Tulane last Tuesday in hopes of addressing problems that arose in a 68-64 loss to TCU.
Instead, COVID-19 issues within the Tulane program forced the cancellation of that game. Williams was unable to find a replacement game.
Therefore, on Saturday night the Aggies (7-2) aim to, well, improve their aim when they head to the Pacific Northwest to face Oregon State (1-9) in Corvallis at 7 p.m.
The Aggies look to significantly decrease offensive rebounds allowed, reduce turnovers and improve free-throw shooting.
In the loss to TCU, they gave up 17 offensive boards, committed 18 turnovers and shot just 44.4 percent (8 of 18) at the foul line.
“Those three things have to go away at a significant rate for us to be successful on Saturday,” Williams said.
The Aggies did some good things, too. They rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to almost win despite their struggles. In fact, the Aggies seem to be developing a reputation as being a “second half” team. The Aggies rallied in the second half to defeat Notre Dame.
Williams doesn’t necessarily see that as a compliment.
“Saying you’re a second-half team is a polite way of saying you’re not a first-half team,” he said. “We want to get away from that.”We need to get better at being good at both halves, particularly at the start.”
Of course, Oregon State has its issues, too.
The Beavers have endured nine straight losses since opening the season with a 73-64 win over Portland State.
They’ve lost by three points or less to Princeton, Samford and Wake Forest. But they’ve also lost by 10 or more to Iowa State, Penn State, Cal and Arizona.
Forward Warith Alatishe, a Houston product, and guard Jarod Lucas are the Beavers scoring leaders.
Alatishe averages 11.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. Lucas averages 10.6 points.
Meanwhile, Quenton Jackson is A&M’s only player averaging in double digits at 12.1 points. However, Marcus Williams, Tyrece Radford and Henry Coleman all average 9 points or more.
All have the ability to have a 20-plus scoring outburst. The Aggies are hopeful they can get that from multiple players.
But Williams isn’t optimistic that will happen against Oregon State.
“Their style of play says it’s probably not going to be a high possession game or a blowout,” Williams said.