Williams & Co. still searching for answers ahead of Tuesday's contest
Figuring out the reasons for Texas A&M’s recent basketball struggles can be as frustrating as algebra.
Multiply 40 minutes of playing time by five players for 200 minutes. Add inconsistency. Subtract reliability. Divide by the number of players in the rotation.
The result is a disappointing start to the season, with Southeastern Conference play about a week away.
In the algebra… er, basketball test, A&M (6-5) faces Northwestern State (8-4) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Reed Arena.
The Aggies are hoping they can find the right answers to put an end to a two-game skid.
“We’ve got to find a way to do more from start to finish than what we’ve done,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said on Monday. “Find some consistency in doing more. We don’t have possessions or minutes to give away trying to figure out if this person is going to be what we think they are or not.
“There are 200 minutes in a game. How many minutes can you play and what are you going to give us? We should be able to answer that question better than we can currently.”
The Aggies need to find those answers to avoid a repeat of their stunning 67-62 loss to Wofford a week ago.
However, Northwestern State is a tougher-than-expected assignment.
The Demons dealt TCU its only loss. They scored 102 points in a Southland Conference victory over Stephen F. Austin. They defeated (11-2) Southern Mississippi. A week ago, Northwestern State trailed No. 12 Baylor just 24-22 at halftime. The Demons lost, 58-48.
They’re led by guards DeMarcus Sharp, Ja’Monta Black and Isaac Haney, who all average more than 12 points per game.
“They have a very unique style of play,” Williams said. “They can score in bunches. They have three guys that have shot 72 percent of their balls in their Power 5 opponent games. They will try to shorten the game. They like to play in the last 10 seconds of the (shot) clock, particularly when they’re on the road.”
Yet, despite how good Northwestern State may be, Williams’ top priority is getting his best players to perform at their best.
When asked which A&M players were playing to expectations on both ends of the court, Williams mentioned only Wichita State transfer Dexter Dennis, senior Andre Gordon and true freshman Solomon Washington.
“Dex, Dre, I think Solo has found a lane that he feels comfortable in,” Williams said. “That’s probably it on both ends of the floor.
“That’s good for Solo in his first semester. You’d expect that from Dre with the time he’s been here. Really good for Dex, considering he’s been somewhere else his whole career.
“It’s those core guys we need to find some consistency.”
Those core guys are guard Wade Taylor IV, guard Tyrece Radford and forward Henry Coleman III.
“It’s not that they’ve been awful from start to finish,” Williams said. “It’s just that collectively we haven’t been good. We’ve been good in spurts. We just haven’t been good from start to finish.
“Not everything is going to be perfect, but the piece of all pulling in the same direction on both ends of the floor… We need to be better at that, for sure.”