Texas A&M hopes extra day off helps revive recent success against Georgia
According to Texas A&M lore, an Aggie tradition is established whenever something is done twice.
With that in mind, the Aggies hope to establish a tradition of following a Southeastern Conference basketball road loss with an emphatic victory.
The Aggies (15-7, 7-2) are looking to bounce back from a loss at Arkansas when they face Georgia (14-8, 4-5) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT at Reed Arena.
A&M’s only other SEC loss was at Kentucky on Jan. 21. Four days later, the Aggies responded by blowing out then-No. 15 Auburn, 79-63.
Like in that game, the Aggies have had four days to recover from a nightmarish Tuesday night trip to Fayetteville that culminated in an 81-70 loss.
A&M hasn’t often had the luxury of four days between games in SEC play, so that extra day of rest could prove to be beneficial in recovering from the physical and mental grind.
“One hundred percent,” forward Henry Coleman III agreed. “Especially playing in this league. It’s very fast and very physical. It’s more for the body. A lot for mental, too. Traveling and stuff, letting everybody catch up on school work. Catch up on life. Sometimes we go so fast that we forget that we are just humans. Four days of rest is really good for everybody.”
Perhaps. But A&M coach Buzz Williams is quick to point out they will need more than an extra day of rest to overcome Georgia.
Even though the Bulldogs have lost four of their last five games, they can be threatening.
Guards Terry Roberts and Kario Oquendo both are fast, athletic and average more than 12 points. They’re two of four Georgia players to have converted at least 25 times from 3-point range.
“They have a really good first five. Then they have four guys that come off the bench and play real minutes,” Williams said. “I think they are fourth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (34.1 percent). They have guys that can make shots. (Roberts) and (Oquendo) are electric at getting downhill.”
Of course, the Aggies — who are tied with Tennessee for second place in the SEC standings — can generate their share of electricity, too.
Coleman has scored 18 points in each of the last two games. He has raised his average to 10.4 points. He’s emerging as a nice scoring compliment to guards Wade Taylor IV (14.9 ppg.) and Tyrece Radford (13.7).
A&M’s recipe for success has typically included playing suffocating defense, attacking the rim to draw fouls and methodically beating down opponents at the free-throw line.
The Aggies are second in the nation in free throws attempted and converted.
But the Aggies wouldn’t — or couldn’t — follow the recipe in the loss to Arkansas.
The Razorbacks overcame A&M’s defense to shoot 50 percent from the field. Meanwhile, A&M missed 19 layups and close-range shots. The Aggies got to the free-throw line 24 times but missed 10 times.
That uncharacteristic display might have been a result of travel travails. Inclement weather diverted the Aggies’ Monday night flight from Fayetteville to Wichita, Kansas.
Once there, they had to travel by bus to a hotel in Tulsa. They bussed from Tulsa to Fayetteville on Tuesday but arrived too late for a shootaround session.
They wouldn’t use that as an excuse for the loss, though.
"The things we do every day are way more stressful and more intense than that,” guard Dexter Dennis said. “Don't get me wrong, traveling does take a little bit out of you, but in terms of making excuses for the way we played, no. I think we still had great energy. We just didn’t stick to our recipe as much. We were just not ourselves.”
Coleman acknowledged the Aggies must get back to their usual recipe.
“I think we have to continue to do us,” he said. “Continue to focus on our defensive principles, our offensive principles, and not get too far ahead of ourselves. Just kind of focus on the moment and prepare for it.”
And maybe start another A&M tradition, of sorts.