Williams & Co. aim to punch a ticket to NYC with win over Wake Forest

Similarities between the Wake Forest and Texas A&M basketball teams aren’t limited to the fact they’ve advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

They have more in common. A lot more.

Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams and Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes were assistants for then-A&M coach Billy Gillispie from 2004-06.

They also seem to share a common philosophy.

“I think his team is defensive-minded,” Williams said. “They do some sound things that put you in a quandary, offensively. But I think the reason they’ve won 25 games is they play really hard. They play with a high IQ, and you can tell they play for one another.”

Sounds familiar?

The Aggies (25-12) may be facing a carbon copy of themselves when clashing with Wake Forest (25-9) at Reed Arena on Wednesday at 6 p.m. with a trip to New York City at stake.

The winner advances to the NIT Semifinals next week at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Like Wake Forest, A&M is defense-minded but dangerous offensively. The Aggies play hard, smart and together.

Indeed, the Aggies have done all that in a 10-game stretch in which they’re 9-1 and have posted impressive victories over Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Oregon. Some would say those victories are surprising.

Buzz Williams would not.

“It’s rarified air that we are breathing,” he said. “There is a lot to learn from it, but I don’t think I would be surprised just because I have so much belief in the fabric of who they are.”

The Aggies have surged at the end of the season behind the consistent play of guards Quenton Jackson and Tyrece Radford and 6-foot-8 forward Henry Coleman III. They’ve also gotten a huge boost from the recent emergence of freshman guard Manny Obaseki.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest — which toppled Towson State, 74-64, and Virginia Commonwealth, 80-74, in its first two NIT games — has relied heavily on the trio of guards Alandes Williams and Daivien Williamson and 6-foot-8 forward Jake La Ravia.

Alandes Williams averages 18.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. 

Cade Ingersoll, TexAgs

Quenton Jackson scored a team-high 17 points to lead A&M past Oregon in the second round of the NIT.

Williamson averages 12.2 points, and La Ravia averages 14.9 points and 6.6 rebounds.

The Demon Deacons scored at least 74 points in each of their last five games. An 82-77 overtime loss to Boston College in the ACC Tournament was their only loss in that span.

But the Aggies feel like they know the key to a win.

“Play Texas A&M basketball again like we have the last 10 games,” Coleman said. “Playing super hard, playing with a ton of effort, really getting it on the defensive end and rebounding. I think our offense is taking care of itself, so getting back to those things.”

That might be sufficient for the Aggies to advance to New York City for the first time. A&M has fallen short in seven previous NIT appearances.

“I would love to go back,” Coleman said, who previously went to New York on travel basketball teams in high school. “It’s a little too fast for me to live there, but I would love to go and visit again.”