Rebounding excellence puts Ags in position to extend streak vs. Rebels

Press conference video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.

Rebounding has been a strong point for Texas A&M. And not just because the Aggies lead the nation on the offensive boards.

The Aggies have shown the ability to bounce back from slow starts.

They opened Southeastern Conference basketball play with consecutive losses to LSU and Auburn. Since then, they’ve won three of their last four, including two consecutive victories.

A&M (12-3, 3-3) aims to extend the winning streak to three on Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. CT contest at Reed Arena against Ole Miss (16-3, 3-3).

If tendencies continue, the Aggies may have to bounce back from slow starts. Fortunately, they’ve been adept at coming back.

They rallied from a 13-4 deficit to beat Missouri. They came back from trailing 10-2 to topple LSU. They trailed Iowa State by 21 but came back to prevail, 73-69.

The Aggies also trailed Arkansas by 20 but lost on a last-second basket. They also rallied from a 21-point hole to take a lead over Houston, though eventually endured a four-point loss.

Consistently playing from behind has to be a source of frustration for coach Buzz Williams. Or is it?

“I don’t know if frustrated is the right word,” Williams said. “Accustomed to is probably more accurate. A very quick/stark reminder of how difficult all of this is. As soon as you shake hands and give hugs, ‘Alright, it's about to be a fight for two-and-a-half hours.’”

No doubt the Aggies aim to get off to a fast start against Ole Miss, but obviously, they are capable of storming back from behind.

“Some of those come-from-behinds have been just awfully slow starts,” Williams said. “But over the last two-and-a-half weeks, it could be attributed to just starting poorly. I didn’t think our energy was poor against Kentucky (a 97-92 victory). Our energy wasn’t poor at LSU. Our energy wasn’t poor vs. Missouri.

“Now, at Arkansas, our energy was poor even though we weren’t making shots.”

Making shots has been a major issue for A&M, which is coverting just 39 percent of its field goals to rank just 344nd in the country.

The Aggies have relied heavily on the backcourt scoring of Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford. Taylor averages 19.5 points. Radford averages 13.

A&M has sought other sources of consistent scoring. Forward Henry Coleman III averages 11.2 points but has struggled with injuries.

Guard Jace Carter averages 6.6 points but averaged 16.6 points last year at Illinois-Chicago. He had 13 in the win over LSU.

If a consistent third scoring option emerges the Aggies could put together a long winning streak.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Wade Taylor IV averages 19.5 PPG, which is good for 37th nationally. He has scored 19 in each of the last two games.

“I feel like there is no ceiling with us,” Carter said. “We’re definitely hungry. We’re wanting to hunt. (We) Talk about it all the time. We’re hunted people, and they’re hunting us. There’s definitely some room we can improve on.”

The Aggies need to play better than they did on Tuesday in the 63-57 victory over Missouri to beat Ole Miss.

The Rebels were ranked No. 22 in the nation just last week.

Guard Matthew Murrell leads four players that average in double figures.

They’re also strong on the defensive end, especially in the paint with 7-foot forward Moussa Cisse and 7-foot-5 Jamarion Sharp, who leads the SEC in blocked shots.

In fact, Ole Miss as a team is fourth nationally in blocks.

That figures to pose problems for A&M. But blocked shots provide more opportunities for offensive rebounds.

And A&M is excellent at rebounding.