A&M seeks to end streak at UGA in hopes of eking into NCAA Tourney

Staying upbeat in a downturn isn’t easy.

The stress of Texas A&M’s five-game Southeastern Conference basketball losing streak has taken its toll. Even philosophical coach Buzz Williams admitted keeping an even keel is difficult, but necessary.

“A leader leads when times are hard,” Williams said on Friday. “I need to be the model when things are hard to handle.

“I don’t want to blame (media) or blame the schedule or blame the injuries or blame the suspension (of Julius Marble).

“No, this is part of athletics. How can we learn from this? How can we grow from this?”

Seemingly all that has grown of late is frustration and doubt.

But the Aggies (15-13, 6-9) maintain faint hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Those hopes can get a shade brighter with a victory at Georgia (15-13, 5-10) on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.

“We haven’t played ourselves into the tournament and out of the tournament without a chance to play ourselves back into the tournament,” Williams said. “So how do we want to handle that? That starts on Saturday.

“Whether it’s Wednesday (vs. Mississippi State) or next Saturday (at Ole Miss) or the SEC Tournament, none of it’s any good if we don’t turn it.”

Williams has tried a variety of changes to turn A&M’s trajectory.

He shaved his goatee and did not wear the usual three-piece suit before facing No. 18 South Carolina last Wednesday. He also juggled the starting lineup.

It almost worked.

The Aggies fell 70-68 on a layup with three seconds remaining. It was the third time in SEC play they’ve been beaten on the final shot.

Yet, it simply comes down to playing better.

The Aggies must shoot better at the 3-point line or take fewer attempts from behind the arc. They must horde offensive rebounds, avoid turnovers, get to the foul line and hope more help emerges for leading scorers Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford.

That help may be coming from sophomore guard Manny Obaseki, who had 11 points against South Carolina.

“I thought it was the best MO has played all season on both sides,” Williams said. “He made more free throws (5) in that game than he has in SEC play. He does have the ability to go downhill.

“He’s continued to improve off the ball, defensively. Not getting turned around and confused on what’s happening. I thought he was very engaged.”

Improved defense will also be a key against Georgia, which averages 75.8 points per game. Guard Noah Thomasson led the Bulldogs with a 13.0 average. Guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim averages 12.3. Three other Bulldogs average more than nine points.

Still, Georgia is having struggles of its own.

The Bulldogs have managed just one win in the nine games. Earlier this week, they were nipped by LSU, 67-66.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Tyrece “Boots” Radford has reached double figures in 11 straight contests. He had a team-high 19 in the loss to South Carolina.

However, A&M’s focus remains primarily on itself.

The Aggies insist they haven’t lost interest, confidence or faith.

“We’re fighting. We’re not ever going to stop fighting,” senior guard Eli Lawrence said. “Everybody is good. We’re still practicing hard. We’re never going into the next game thinking we’re about to lose. We always feel like we’re going to win the next game.

“We’ve just got to be better in those critical moments. Do what it takes.”

The right attitude may be what it’ll take for the Aggies to have a chance to eke into the NCAA Tournament. No doubt, that’s the goal.

But Williams said the Aggies also have a more basic goal.

“We want to win,” he said. “We want to be our best because we haven’t been our best the last two-and-a-half weeks.”