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Texas A&M Basketball

Strong defensive effort from Aggies key to upsetting No. 19 LSU

January 29, 2019
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Did Texas A&M emerge from a metaphorical basketball desert with a victory over Kansas State? Or did the Aggies just find a metaphorical oasis?

That may be determined this week as the Aggies (8-10, 1-5) play host to the top two teams in the Southeastern Conference standings — No. 19 LSU (16-3, 6-0) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night and No. 1 Tennessee (18-1, 6-0) on Saturday at Reed Arena.

No doubt the Aggies got a jolt of confidence with their 65-53 upset of Kansas State last Saturday. But they’re not yet claiming to have turned a corner and solved all the issues that had resulted in six losses in the seven games before the victory over K-State.

Jackie Ysaquirre, TexAgs
Forward Josh Nebo has played an important role on both ends of the floor.

“I’m not sure so much about turning the corner,” junior forward Josh Nebo said on Tuesday. “But I think it’s a good stepping stone to continue to get better in SEC play and take that performance forward and take it into the LSU game.”

Coach Billy Kennedy echoed that thought.

“Hopefully, we can build off our last win and follow it up with some quality play,” he said.

Then he added:  “We’ll continue to work on us. We still think we need to get better in a lot of areas. We’ve got to take care of the ball. In some areas we are improving. It’s going to take a lot of improvement offensively and defensively against these two opponents.”

The Aggies limited Kansas State to 32.8 percent shooting. They likely will need another strong defensive effort to hold off LSU, which averages 83.2 points per game to rank third in the SEC in scoring.

The Tigers have scored at least 83 points in each of their six SEC victories. Sophomore guard Tremont Water, who toppled A&M with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer last season at Reed Arena, leads the Tigers in scoring with a 14.2 average and dishes out 6.2 assists.

Guard Skylar Mays, forward Naz Reid (a 6-foot-10 freshman), and freshman guard Ja’Vonte Smith all average 10.5 points.

“They can score,” Kennedy said. “I think they’re probably the most talented team in the league. They’re deep. Tremont Waters is just one big piece. (He’s) probably the best offensive guard in this league. They just have a lot of different weapons that can score the basketball.”

However, the Tigers can be lax on defense. They’ve allowed at least 80 points in six games. Although they’ve been dominant at times, they also needed overtime to post victories over Arkansas and Missouri.

Meanwhile, A&M has shown signs of breaking out of its offensive doldrums.

The Aggies have made 17 shots from 3-point range in the last two games. They also shot a decent 47.5 percent from the field in an 81-72 loss to Florida and followed up by shooting 51 percent against Kansas State.

“When we make shots, like any team, we’re better defensively. Chuck has been a big lift that last two games.”
- Billy Kennedy

Guard Wendell “Chuck” Mitchell has scored at least 22 points in three of the last four games. His emergence has taken some of the emphasis away from explosive but erratic guard T.J. Starks.

“When we make shots, like any team, we’re better defensively,” Kennedy said. “Chuck has been a big lift that last two games.

“I think they (Starks and Mitchell) are starting to get used to playing with each other. T.J. had six assists the last game. That’s something we’ve emphasized with him. He’s gotten more confident in finding Chuck and they’re playing better together at this point.”

The Aggies will also get back guard Jay Jay Chandler, who missed the Kansas State game with a shoulder injury. Chandler has scored has scored 15 and 11 points while shooting 67 percent (10 of 15) in his last two games.

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Strong defensive effort from Aggies key to upsetting No. 19 LSU

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