'High energy' key for Texas A&M in SEC/ACC tilt against Wake Forest
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What happens is Vegas stays in Vegas. That may include energy.
Seven days in Las Vegas celebrating wins could take a toll.
Almost anyone would need time to recover.
Texas A&M doesn’t have the luxury of time. Just three days after winning two of three basketball games in Las Vegas, the No. 22 Aggies (6-2) return to Reed Arena to face Wake Forest (7-2) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night.
“The most important thing we can have, collectively as an organization, is just have high energy,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “(Wake Forest) can beat you because (Steve) Forbes is that good of a coach and he’s got the right personnel and weapons to beat you.
“But if we don’t have the appropriate energy — and I’ve got to kind of manage that a little bit with our group. Our guys were good (Sunday), but we didn’t practice. We’re going to be behind in the reps we typically have.
“Energy will be a big part.”
Senior forward Henry Coleman III, who scored 11 points in a victory over Rutgers and 17 in a win over Creighton in Vegas, vowed that generating sufficient energy won’t be a problem for the Aggies.
“We’re excited to get back home — coaching staff to the players,” Coleman said. “Vegas was fun, but we’re excited to get back to College Station. Energy. That’s never a factor for us. That’s a non-negotiable within our team. We’re always energized and always play hard.”
Energy probably won’t be a problem for the Aggies. Wake Forest’s 6-foot-5 guard Hunter Sallis and 6-foot-7 forward Tre’Von Spillers might be. Sallis averages 16.8 points. Spillers averages 11.1 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds.
“They have two guys inside that cause you problems at the rim in a variety of ways. They have a 6-foot-6 ball guard (Sallis) who won’t come out of the game, who is a first-team all-league player who puts stress on you in every possible way.
“They have some other pieces that, as I’ve watched the games I’ve been able to watch, they’re continuing to put them in spots to be successful.”
The Aggies have found keys to success, too.
A&M is 6-0 when taking more than 20 free throws. One key to getting more trips to the foul line is getting more possessions via offensive rebounds. The Aggies lead the nation with an average of 17.6 offensive boards per game.
The 6-foot-8 Coleman leads A&M with 32 offensive rebounds. Those second chances are a factor in his averaging 11.3 points, which is only less than guards Wade Taylor IV (15.9) and Zhuric Phelps (14.1).
Interestingly, Coleman has scored in double figures in every A&M victory. He had six points in both losses.
He dismissed that as a mere coincidence.
“I don’t think you can pull up that stat and say those are the reasons we lost. There are other reasons we lost,” Coleman said. “We didn’t play Texas A&M basketball. We didn’t rebound the ball well. Didn’t make enough free throws. Didn’t get enough turkeys. Didn’t get enough stops down the stretch.
“When we don’t do those things, that’s when Texas A&M loses. When we are doing those things as we saw previously vs. Creighton and Rutgers … when we’re getting to the free-throw line, when we’re dominating the glass, when we’re having 15-plus offensive rebounds and we’re getting around six or seven turkeys a game. That’s Texas A&M basketball.”
To Williams' point, all those things typically require playing with high energy.
