Aggies eye chance to continue upward trend at No. 25 Alabama
There’s no question Texas A&M is resurgent. The question is just how much can the Aggies surge?
That will be revealed on Wednesday night as Texas A&M (18-11, 7-9) travels to face No. 25 Alabama (19-10, 9-7) in a Southeastern Conference basketball clash at 6 p.m. CT.
A&M broke out of an eight-game losing streak and has won three of its last four. The Aggies are shooting better. They’re rebounding better. They’re playing better.
“I think collectively we are on the same page again,” sophomore forward Henry Coleman III said. “I think physically we’re all a little bit better. I think mentally we’re all a little better.”
But the competition is a lot better.
“Alabama is the fastest team in the league,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “They’ve shot 491 threes so far through 16 games. They’re tenth in the country at rim shot percentage. They play incredibly fast.
“They put stress on you relative to their pace, relative to their talent. Multiple guys that can shoot threes. Multiple guys that can get it to the rim.
“I’ve really enjoyed studying them. I wish we didn’t have to play them. They’re ultra, ultra good.”
In fact, Alabama is so good that the Crimson Tide posted victories over No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 3 Baylor, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 14 (tied) Tennessee and Arkansas.
However, the Tide can be so erratic that they also lost to (6-23) Georgia and (17-12) Mississippi State and just last week eked by (14-14) Vanderbilt.
That may be a byproduct of relying heavily on 3-pointing shooting.
Alabama shot 26.5 percent from 3-point range in the loss to Georgia, 27.6 percent in the loss to Mississippi State and just 28.6 percent in the precarious win over Vanderbilt.
Guard Jaden Shackelford, who leads Alabama with a 17.0 scoring average, has hit 89 treys. Guard Keon Ellis has hit 58, and guard Jahvon Quinerly has hit 43.
The Aggies must do a good job in defense at the 3-point line. Williams said that’s only part of the task.
The Aggies must rebound Alabama’s misses. The Crimson Tide is sixth in the nation in offensive rebounding with an average of 13.5 per game.
“It will be paramount,” Williams said. “When you play certain teams, there are certain guys that go to the offensive guys, and you can identify those guys in preparation for the game. Alabama, you can’t because there are so many of them. Nine guys that average more than one offensive rebound per game. I’ve never seen that statistically in a league.”
Surrendering offensive rebounds has been a frequent problem for A&M.
However, the Aggies have done a much better job on the defensive boards of late.
They allowed only 11 offensive boards in a victory over Ole Miss. They allowed only two in a win over Georgia.
A&M has also shot better of late. Behind guards Quenton Jackson and Tyrece Radford as well as Coleman, the Aggies shot over 50 percent in the wins over Georgia and Ole Miss. They’ve also converted 81 percent at the free-throw line in the last three games. A&M has also reduced turnovers.
Still, Williams worries most about defensive rebounding because the Tide has the ability to score in bunches, especially if given multiple chances.
Williams referenced Alabama’s 90-71 victory over South Carolina on Saturday as a case in point.
“I think that will end up being the tipping point of the game,” Williams said. “It was a one or two-possession game against South Carolina early in the second half. Then, with a few minutes left to go, they scored 90 because they score in waves.”
