Success at the foul line crucial for Texas A&M as Aggies begin SEC play
A volatile start to the basketball season allows Texas A&M few missteps to attain its goal of participating in March Madness.
The Aggies (8-5) take their first precarious step on the high-wire that is Southeastern Conference competition on Wednesday night when they travel to face Florida (7-6, 1-0) at 6 p.m. CT.
Although entering SEC play coming off consecutive comfortable victories over Northwestern State and Prairie View, the Aggies were erratic in non-conference play.
They were blown out three times, endured a miserable loss to Wofford at Reed Arena and didn’t manage a victory that will impressive the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee in March.
Consequently, the Aggies will be closely counting their 18 conference games in hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
This week, coach Buzz Williams explained to his team to count a point for every road win and deduct a point for a home loss.
He thinks the Aggies will need to be at least plus-three to have a shot at inclusion into March Madness.
“Last year, we were zero (road wins minus home losses). Last year, zero went to the NIT,” Williams said. “I explained to them, in my opinion, what I thought it would take — prior to the SEC Tournament — for us to be in a different position.
“We’ve got to get to plus-three. Depending on how some of this shakes out, you could argue it’s got to be plus-four. But zero, considering our non-conference record, for sure won’t do it.”
That illustrates how vital a victory over Florida would be. The last time A&M faced Florida, the Aggies posted an 83-80 victory in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last year in Tampa.
Duplicating that feat in Gainesville won’t be easy.
The Aggies are just 2-4 away from Reed Arena this season, and while Florida has lost three of its last four, two of those losses were to No. 4 Connecticut and No. 22 Auburn.
The Gators are led by 6-foot-11 forward Colin Castleton, who averages 15 points and 7.6 rebounds.
"The offense runs him in every possible way,” Williams said. “They’re top 15 in the country at the rim, offensively. They’re top 20 at protecting the rim, defensively. A lot of that has to do with #12 (Castleton).”
Of course, the Aggies have their threats, too.
Sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV averages 15.5 points and leads the team with 31 treys. Senior guard Tyrece Radford averages 12.3 points and has scored 41 points in the last two games.
“The thing that’s helping Boots (Radford) and IV (Taylor) the most is they’re No. 1 and No. 2 in the SEC in getting fouled,” Williams said. “I think when their mentality is to get fouled, some of the other things open up for them.”
Radford leads the SEC with 61 free throws converted. Taylor is second with 58. Overall, A&M has shot the most free throws in the SEC (254) and is third in free throw percentage (74.1).
Getting to the foul line could pave the way for the Aggies to get a win on the road, which would be a tremendous first step in the SEC.
