Aggies bring 9-game home win streak into top-25 bout with Tennessee

Two months ago, Texas A&M’s basketball season was an unforced turnover.

On Dec. 20, the Aggies suffered a humiliating loss to Wofford. Their record dropped to 6-5. Their resolve didn’t drop, though. A transformation soon began.

On Tuesday night, Reed Arena will host an unlikely clash of top-25 teams as the No. 25 Aggies (20-7, 12-2) face No. 11 Tennessee (20-7, 9-5).

The Aggies are seeking a sixth straight victory. They’re also hoping to stay at least one game behind No. 2 Alabama in the race for the Southeastern Conference championship.

Just the thought that A&M is in the discussion for an SEC championship is stunning to observers around the country.

A&M junior forward Henry Coleman III — a transfer from Duke and Virginia resident — said he’s often asked at home how the Aggies turned around their season.

“People ask you all the time how do go from 6-5 to what we’re doing now,” Coleman said. “I think it’s just consistency. I think we’ve been so consistent in our daily work that our habits are starting to compound on top of each other. They become even greater habits.

“I think it’s a kind of direct correlation to winning. When you’re super consistent and put in hard work each and every day, I think it correlates to winning.”

Former Duke teammate Mark Williams, a center for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, is among the curious.

“He watches every game,” Coleman said. “He just credited us on how we’ve stuck with it. He was like, ‘I remember watching you guys when you lost to Wofford.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it was a difficult time.’ He said he feels happy. He feels like he’s part of the team just watching the games.”

There figures to be more than 12,000 fans at Reed for a “Black Out” game, in which A&M fans are encouraged to wear black.

“I was talking to Julius (Marble) yesterday,” Coleman said. “We were watching a game, and Ju said, ‘What do you think is the hardest environment we’ve played in all year?’

“I said, ‘I think it might be Reed.’ I think Reed has been loud consistently. It’s just been a hard place to play. When Reed is packed, it’s just a really difficult place to play in. The students are active. The fans are really engaged. Credit to the 12th Man.”

A&M has not lost at home since the Wofford debacle. That’s nine consecutive home-court wins.

While A&M is surging, Tennessee is staggering.

The Volunteers have lost four of their last six, although one of the victories was over No. 2 Alabama.

Still, they’ve struggled offensively. They’ve been held to fewer than 60 points three times in the last six games. They’ve scored less than 70 in five.

At least part of their problems can be traced to injuries to guard Josiah-Jordan James and forward Julian Phillips, their top two rebounders.

That has forced the Volunteers to rely even more on the outside shooting of guards Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler, who both average more than 10 points.

However, A&M coach Buzz Williams pointed out the Vols don’t need high scores to win. Tennessee is third in the nation in scoring defense and is first in field goal percentage defense. Opponents are shooting just 35.7 percent, while averaging 56.7 points.

“They are as physical and as talented and as good as any team we play regardless of prior results,” Williams said. “You’re going to lose in this league. You’re going to get beat up in this league. They’ve been playing without some of their players.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

In Texas A&M’s two Quadrant I victories last week, Taylor scored 18 and 21 points. The Aggies will look for another Q1 win on Tuesday night.

“There is a lot of experience on that team. Numerically, defensively and from a rebounding standpoint, they’re in the upper echelon of all teams in the country.”

The Aggies will test that defense. A&M has averaged 74 points during its five-game winning streak.

Guard Wade Taylor IV, the SEC’s Player of the Week, has scored at least 18 points in each of the past four games.

Also, guard Tyrece “Boots” Radford has scored in double figures in nine straight games. Further, guard Dexter Dennis has averaged 13 points over the last five games.

Yet, swarming defense remains the Aggies’ greatest asset.

A&M allows an average of 65.0 points to rank 67th in the nation in scoring defense. The Aggies have held their last three opponents to 62 points or less.

That’s a problem for any opponent, especially one struggling to score.

But Dennis isn’t taking anything for granted.

“We’re going to expect their best,” Dennis said. “And I hope we’re at our best.”