Sweet 16 blowout raises significant questions about what's ahead for A&M

LOS ANGELES — The next time Texas A&M reaches the Sweet Sixteen perhaps the Aggies will be lucky enough to avoid Southern California.

And a sharp-shooting opponent from a foreign country.

Then maybe — just maybe — they can finally take that elusive step to the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament.

But they will also have to do some serious self-analyzation to avoid a beatdown like the 99-72 shellacking Michigan administered on Thursday night at Staples Center.

The Wolverines came out hitting 3-pointers. And never stopped. They drilled three triples in the first eight minutes to take a 19-6 lead. They added three more in the next three minutes. They hit another just before halftime. They hit four more in the second half.

The Wolverines hit 14 triples in all. That’s more than they managed in their two NCAA Tournament victories over Montana and Houston combined.

“When are they going to miss? That’s all I was thinking about,” guard Admon Gilder said. “We could have done a better job, but they were hitting tough shots. Even if we had a hand in their face they knocked down shots. When you’re able to knock down as many 3’s as they made, you can win by any margin."

Michigan guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had four from behind the arc. Mo Wagner, a 6-11 forward from Berlin, Germany, hit three.

All of them were in the first half when the Wolverines built a gaudy 24-point lead from which A&M could not recover. The Aggies looked like they’d been hit by a truck. They didn’t get the number of it, but it had Michigan plates.

“It seemed like whatever we did they figured it out,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “We took away the 3-point line in the second half, but then it was putting our guys one-and-one to take tough 2’s. They banked in some tough 2’s in and they banked a three in. It was kind of comical. I just kind of shook my head because it was their day.”

Yeah. Kind of like it was Oklahoma’s day two years ago in Anaheim.

On that day Bahamian Buddy Held and Jordan Woodard combined to hit seven of the 11 3-pointers the Sooners totaled in a 77-63 victory over the Aggies.

That loss was almost expected. Oklahoma was rolling and Texas A&M had needed a miracle comeback to get past Northern Iowa.

But the blowout loss to Michigan was a shocker.

The Wolverines had appeared lethargic against Montana and Houston as they hit only 28 percent (13 of 46) from the arc. Meanwhile, A&M was riding the momentum of a historic 85-65 romp over defending national champion North Carolina.

Maybe that was part of the problem.

TexAgs

TJ Starks was limited to five points and five turnovers in the Aggies' Sweet 16 loss to Michigan. 

“Effort was the main thing,” said A&M freshman point guard T.J. Starks. “We were on a high horse. We had talked about being humble, but we didn’t come out level-headed. We thought we were going to come out and do what we did to North Carolina.”

He quickly learned that wouldn’t be the case.

“When they got up 15 points that’s when I knew they weren’t playing,” he said.

That 15-point deficit (25-10) came when Zavier Simpson, Starks’ point guard counterpart, hit a 3-pointer with 10:13 left in the first half. It was Michigan’s fifth.

“It seemed like every time they shot the 3-ball it went in,” A&M junior guard D.J. Hogg said. “The transition 3’s hurt us. The split-and-kick 3’s hurt us. They all started getting layups because we were trying to stay on the shooter. It was like they were picking us apart pretty much.”

Michigan coach John Beilein seemed to anticipate that the Wolverines would. In a Thursday press conference h,e shrugged off all the hype about A&M’s penchant for spectacular dunks and blocks.

“Somebody gets dunked on … oh, my God it’s like the end of the world,” he said then. “No. It’s just two points. Go down and hit a three and we’re ahead by one.

“They block a shot. Hey, it’s our ball. What’s the big deal?”

Wise words, indeed. 

The Aggies could use a little wisdom, too.

Starks boasted on Thursday that he was unguardable and unstoppable. Simpson limited him to five points. He had the same number of turnovers. Simpson scored 11 points, had five assists and two turnovers.

When Michigan was drilling 3’s, the Aggies reverted to old habits and tried to match them rather than continue to try to capitalize on their perceived advantage inside with Tyler Davis and Robert Williams.

Notoriously inconsistent from 3-point range, A&M hit just 2 of 8 from behind the arc. Starks hit one of them was just before the halftime buzzer.

It cut Michigan’s lead to 52-28. The issue was settled. Michigan is moving on to the Elite Eight for the 13th time.

But where is A&M going?

After the game, Williams announced he’ll enter the NBA draft. Davis indicated he’s considering it, too. Speculation is Hogg may turn pro as well.

Yet, Kennedy indicated he’s optimistic for the future largely because of the overall play of Starks and fellow freshmen Jay Jay Chandler and Savion Flagg.

“We’ve got a great future,” he said. “We’ve got a great base of guys coming back. Our freshmen did some special things for us this year.  We’ll come up with another good recruiting class this year. We feel great about the future.”

That might be a little too optimistic.

Though Starks was often spectacular, Michigan showed A&M needs significant improvement in the backcourt.

And the front line will need a complete overhaul if Davis decides to go pro. The near future will be bright if Davis returns for his senior year.

But if he doesn’t …well, it could be awhile before the Aggies return to the Sweet Sixteen.