Billy Kennedy
Texas A&M Players
Lon Kruger
Oklahoma Players
Texas A&M Basketball
Aggies face another tall task against Oklahoma: Containing Buddy Hield
March 23, 2016
5,530
ANAHEIM, Calif. — To become truly elite Texas A&M may be required to accomplish the impossible.
Again.
A rally from a 12-point deficit with 34 seconds left in regulation enabled the Aggies to defeat Northern Iowa and advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
The Aggies face another unfeasible chore in their quest to reach the Elite Eight. They must shut down Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield.
Actually, the Aggies (28-8) would be content to merely contain Hield, who is arguably the best player in college basketball.
“It’s really hard to do that because the other guards are so good,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said at Wednesday's press conference. “When you do that, sometimes they beat you with the other four guys. But you can’t let Buddy … he could go for 40. He’s a guy I would think of as a LeBron James type. You better not let a guy like that go off on you.
“We’re going to pay a lot of attention to him and hope we can limit his touches, like most people have tried to do.”
Most people have failed.
That includes a 36-point explosion in the Sooners’ 85-81 second round victory over Virginia Commonwealth.
“We’ve got to limit his touches, make sure he doesn’t get in the sweet spots and starting heating up from three-point range,” A&M senior forward Jalen Jones said. “You’ve always got to be alert. Even when they miss a shot, he’s always trying to run out to the three-point line and get a quick one up.
“It’s just being alert. Making sure you’re always attached to him.”
To complicate matters, OU’s Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard are also three-point threats. They’ve combined for 132 treys.
Further complicating matters is that A&M has often struggled to defend at the three-point line.
The Aggies allowed between eight and 13 three-point field goals in seven of their eight losses. They also allowed nine in a first round victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay and a dozen in the victory over Northern Iowa.
“We’re not a great ball-pressure team,” Kennedy acknowledged. “We’re more a protect-the-paint, get back and make you beat us from the three-point line (team). That’s what’s going to be one of the key things is can we defend the three-point line better than we have in the past? And will they shoot it as well as they have?”
However, the Aggies can glean confidence from the fact they are 4-0 against Big 12 teams this season. They’ve beaten Texas, Iowa State and Kansas State, which all defeated Oklahoma (27-7).
The Sooners also struggled to notch a come-from-behind 77-75 victory over LSU, which A&M defeated twice.
A&M also appears to have an advantage in the paint with 6-10 freshman center Tyler Davis and 6-7 senior forward Jalen Jones, as well as 6-7 senior guard Danuel House, who is adept at driving to the basket and has scored 74 points in the last three games.
Alex Parker, TexAgs
Though boosted by the confidence their comeback generated, the Aggies will try to avoid a similar deficit in Anaheim.
“He’s a big body,” Oklahoma senior forward Ryan Spangler said of Davis. “He likes to post up in there and they get the ball to him pretty well. That’s something we’ve been working on the last couple of days of practice.
“So, me and Khadeem (Lattin, sophomore forward) to start it off, we’ll have to fight him and not let him get anything easy. When guys come off the bench they’ve got to do the same thing. We’ll just try not to let him get easy buckets and make him earn everything.”
The Aggies certainly earned their way into the Sweet Sixteen with their historic rally to beat Northern Iowa.
“What they did was remarkable and I respect their fight,” Hield said. “When we play them, if we get up a big lead, we can’t take that lead for granted because we know they’re capable of making a run.”
Kennedy is hopeful the Aggies won’t need one.
“I think we’ve got to learn from what we did wrong and put ourselves in that situation,” he said. “Our guys know it’s incredible. They’re thankful. Hopefully, it only helps. We shouldn’t become arrogant. We know how fortunate we were to win.”
Again.
A rally from a 12-point deficit with 34 seconds left in regulation enabled the Aggies to defeat Northern Iowa and advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
The Aggies face another unfeasible chore in their quest to reach the Elite Eight. They must shut down Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield.
Actually, the Aggies (28-8) would be content to merely contain Hield, who is arguably the best player in college basketball.
“It’s really hard to do that because the other guards are so good,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said at Wednesday's press conference. “When you do that, sometimes they beat you with the other four guys. But you can’t let Buddy … he could go for 40. He’s a guy I would think of as a LeBron James type. You better not let a guy like that go off on you.
“We’re going to pay a lot of attention to him and hope we can limit his touches, like most people have tried to do.”
Most people have failed.
We’ve got to limit his touches,
make sure he doesn’t get in the sweet spots and starting heating up
from three-point range. You’ve always got to be alert. Even when they
miss a shot, he’s always trying to run out to the three-point line and
get a quick one up.
Hield set a Big 12 single-season record with 136 field goals from three-point range. He averages 25.4 points per game and has scored 30 points or more 11 times.That includes a 36-point explosion in the Sooners’ 85-81 second round victory over Virginia Commonwealth.
“We’ve got to limit his touches, make sure he doesn’t get in the sweet spots and starting heating up from three-point range,” A&M senior forward Jalen Jones said. “You’ve always got to be alert. Even when they miss a shot, he’s always trying to run out to the three-point line and get a quick one up.
“It’s just being alert. Making sure you’re always attached to him.”
To complicate matters, OU’s Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard are also three-point threats. They’ve combined for 132 treys.
Further complicating matters is that A&M has often struggled to defend at the three-point line.
The Aggies allowed between eight and 13 three-point field goals in seven of their eight losses. They also allowed nine in a first round victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay and a dozen in the victory over Northern Iowa.
“We’re not a great ball-pressure team,” Kennedy acknowledged. “We’re more a protect-the-paint, get back and make you beat us from the three-point line (team). That’s what’s going to be one of the key things is can we defend the three-point line better than we have in the past? And will they shoot it as well as they have?”
However, the Aggies can glean confidence from the fact they are 4-0 against Big 12 teams this season. They’ve beaten Texas, Iowa State and Kansas State, which all defeated Oklahoma (27-7).
The Sooners also struggled to notch a come-from-behind 77-75 victory over LSU, which A&M defeated twice.
A&M also appears to have an advantage in the paint with 6-10 freshman center Tyler Davis and 6-7 senior forward Jalen Jones, as well as 6-7 senior guard Danuel House, who is adept at driving to the basket and has scored 74 points in the last three games.
Alex Parker, TexAgs
Though boosted by the confidence their comeback generated, the Aggies will try to avoid a similar deficit in Anaheim.
“So, me and Khadeem (Lattin, sophomore forward) to start it off, we’ll have to fight him and not let him get anything easy. When guys come off the bench they’ve got to do the same thing. We’ll just try not to let him get easy buckets and make him earn everything.”
The Aggies certainly earned their way into the Sweet Sixteen with their historic rally to beat Northern Iowa.
“What they did was remarkable and I respect their fight,” Hield said. “When we play them, if we get up a big lead, we can’t take that lead for granted because we know they’re capable of making a run.”
Kennedy is hopeful the Aggies won’t need one.
“I think we’ve got to learn from what we did wrong and put ourselves in that situation,” he said. “Our guys know it’s incredible. They’re thankful. Hopefully, it only helps. We shouldn’t become arrogant. We know how fortunate we were to win.”
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