Texas A&M Basketball (9-5) opened the 2023 SEC slate with a home contest against the LSU Tigers (9-5) on Saturday night, knowing that for the 13th game this season, the Aggies would be without senior forward Julius Marble, who continues to sit out due to an ongoing “University process.”
After closing out a challenging non-conference schedule, consecutive losses to Memphis and Houston were understandable but still frustrating for most of the fan base who felt that the team could not win the “big games” under fifth-year head coach Buzz Williams. Still, either way, it was a respectable finish with conference play on the horizon.
Opening the new year against an LSU squad that, on paper, is still rebuilding under second-year head coach Matt McMahon, A&M held an advantage in nearly every metric, but as soon as the first possession, the Aggies looked lost.
Failing to find any offensive rhythm from the start, defense and rebounding, two areas of predominate strength for the Aggies this season, also took a back seat as the Tigers continued to punch back, outscoring 36-20 in the paint, including a 46-40 rebounding advantage, defeating Texas A&M 68-53 for just the second loss in Reed Arena this season.
Even with the Tiger’s sudden offensive surge, Texas A&M’s beyond-anemic shooting kept them behind the 8 ball going into the second half, finishing 15-59 (25.4%) from the field and 5-28 (17.9) from 3-point, as the scars of last season’s home loss to Wofford reared its ugly head, forcing Williams to find immediate answers before things completely spiral out of control.
“I hope that this is cleansing for us. We have not lost a conference game here in a long time.”
“That is over now. Now, how can we process all of this information and be more prepared with me being at the front of the bus.”
It’s not foreign for a team to randomly struggle from the field; the Aggies are shooting just 40% from the field and just 26% from beyond the arc, and even more worrying, senior forward Henry Coleman was nowhere to be found on Saturday night, logging just four points and four points in 31 minutes of play, forcing the offense go through guard Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford.
Taylor, who on occasion looks like the only player who can create offense, may have led the game with 23 points but was just 8-20 from the field, while Radford’s 4-18, 11-point showing should have been better, as he failed to see several opportunities to drive the lane for easy layups, instead opting for errant jump shots. After the game, Taylor still feels that it’s much too early to judge the Aggies’ ability to compete.
“It’s early. It’s the first game. Take all the lessons we learned tonight.”
“We will continue to play our game.”
Taking this with a grain of salt, inconsistent shooting has been a constant under Williams, but this shouldn’t be the case in 2023 with the veterans on the roster. Even though the Aggies will likely improve on defense as we’ve witnessed after embarrassing losses in years past, the road only gets tougher. Julius Marble’s continued absence hinders this team from establishing their identity and reaching their full potential.
Texas A&M will travel to Alabama to take on the 25th-ranked Auburn Tigers on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 8:00 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN2.
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