The Texas A&M men’s basketball team is coming off back-to-back losses to begin SEC play and things don’t get any easier this weekend.
The Aggies (9-6, 0-2) host No. 6 Kentucky (12-2, 2-0) on Saturday afternoon. Texas A&M is coming off a 68-53 loss versus LSU on Jan. 6 and a 66-55 road defeat at No. 16 Auburn three days later.
Before the matchup against the Wildcats, head coach Buzz Williams reflected Friday on the losses and how the team can improve.
“I thought we were awful against LSU and I was as mad as I have been probably since I’ve been here. Not that we lost, I didn’t think that we represented us, the department, the institution (and) the former students. It was yucky to me,” Williams explained. “I understand we need to win, I get it, but I’m more concerned with how we go about it. Bill Walsh let the score take care of itself. I thought we were awful.
“I was as disappointed in (Andersson Garcia) as I’ve ever been. It really hurt his feelings. I thought it was for sure better on Tuesday than it was on Saturday. Was it because Wildens (Leveque) started and Andy didn’t? No, it was because of our mentality.”
Williams’ main message for his team going into Saturday’s showdown versus Kentucky was simple: get ready to run.
“What I told our team was, ‘If Auburn is fast, Kentucky is a hallucinogen.’ They looked like you did,” Williams said to the media. “The smart guys were like, ‘It’s like a drug and you hallucinate.’ That’s Kentucky in transition! Super duper fast, 14th fastest team in the country. 64% of their shots have been attempted in the first 12 seconds of the possession. They shoot an enormous amount of shots in transition from 3. It’s similar in regard to the pace but percentage-wise it’s on steroids and even faster. Their perimeter players are even faster going downhill and they’re spraying it and shooting a lot more 3s than Auburn does.”
The Aggies and Wildcats tip off at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday at Reed Arena.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Wade Taylor IV – 17.3 PTS / 4.0 AST / 2.4 STL
Henry Coleman – 12.5 PTS / 8.4 REB
Tyrece Radford – 12.2 PTS / 5.1 REB / 2.2 AST
HOW TO WATCH:
TV: ESPN
Play-by-play: Dan Shulman
Analyst: Jay Bilas
HOW TO LISTEN:
TAMU Sports Network: WTAW 1620AM, WTAW 94.5FM (local)
Web: 12thman.com
App: 12th Man Mobile App
Play-by-Play: Andrew Monaco / Dr. John Thornton
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