Rocky stretch leads Maroon & White to Rocky Top on Saturday night
Press conference video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.
Good basketball teams often endure bad stretches. The key is to break out of bad stretches and remind everyone how good the team is.
That’s the mission facing Texas A&M (15-11, 6-7) on Saturday in a 7 p.m. Southeastern Conference match with No. 5 Tennessee (20-6, 10-3) in Knoxville.
Just two weeks ago the Aggies appeared to prove their prowess in an 85-69 triumph over the Volunteers at Reed Arena.
But since then, A&M has fallen into a three-game slump, which included losses to struggling Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
Now the Aggies need to remind everyone — most notably the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee — that they indeed are a good team.
“There’s evidence we’re a good team,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said on Friday. “And there’s evidence if we don’t follow the recipe we’re not a good team.”
A&M’s recipe for success has usually been a mixture of strong defense, dominating the offensive boards to score heavily on second chances, getting to the free-throw line and minimizing turnovers.
They did all that in the win over Tennessee.
The Aggies limited Tennessee to 37 percent shooting, got 14 offensive rebounds, shot 25 free throws and committed 10 turnovers.
They’ve seemingly lost the recipe in the three-game losing streak, but have not lost their confidence.
“We’re still the same. Nothing has changed,” said forward Andersson Garcia, who had 17 rebounds against the Vols. “Obviously, we didn’t have the result we wanted the last three games. But we’re still here. We’re going to keep battling. We’re not going to give up.”
The Aggies are facing perhaps an uphill battle to get into the NCAA Tournament.
The selection committee uses the NET rankings as a guideline to assemble the at-large teams in the 68-team field. A&M’s NET ranking is 49.
Each of the 32 conferences gets an automatic bid. That leaves 36 at-large spots. A 49 NET ranking would seemingly put A&M solidly on the proverbial bubble.
But the Aggies are accustomed to being there. Two seasons ago they suffered through an 8-game losing streak and weren’t even considered a NCAA Tournament contender.
Then they finished the regular season strong and reached the final of the SEC Tournament. Though ultimately overlooked for March Madness, many observers thought they should have gotten in.
Last season the Aggies were 6-5 in non-conference after falling to Wofford, but came on strong to finish second in SEC play. They were a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve been in way worse situations than this,” A&M forward Henry Coleman III said. “Everybody on the team has a story of adversity. This is just a small part of the adversity that we’re seeing. I’m confident we’re going to overcome it.”
Overcoming Tennessee in Knoxville won’t be easy. The Aggies are just 4-5 on the road, while Tennessee is 12-1 in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Also, leading scorer Wade Taylor IV has struggled of late. Taylor averages 19.1 points, but he’s shot just 30.7 percent and is six points under his average in the three-game skid.
Meanwhile, Tennessee is on a three-game winning streak. The Volunteers are averaging 80 points per game behind the scoring of guard Dalton Knecht (20.0 ppg.) and point guard Zakai Zeigler (11.0 ppg).
Neither shot particularly well in College Station.
Also, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was rankled by A&M fans taunting the Vols with chants of “over-rated.”
He was also upset that a technical foul was not called on Williams for stepping onto the court.
Further, Tennessee still is in the race for the SEC championship and a high NCAA Tournament seed.
Those factors suggest an intense atmosphere and rowdy crowd await the Aggies.
Williams expects it.
“It’ll be a tilt… a Saturday night tilt,” Williams said. “They will be really excited. Coach (Barnes) is upset at me. Their players are really good. They’re the fourth or fifth ranked team in the country. They’re good enough to win a national championship. They’re playing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“I anticipate it will be the absolute best college basketball has to offer.”
