A fine line may be the difference between success and failure.
Walking the fine line may not be the key to success for Texas A&M in Southeastern Conference basketball play. Rather, it may be a matter of which line the Aggies are toeing.
The Aggies (11-2) open SEC play on Tuesday night at Georgia (5-8).
A&M was among the nation’s worst 3-point shooting teams the previous two seasons but has made a dramatic reversal of fortune behind the arc. The Aggies lead the SEC in three-point accuracy at 37.6 percent.
“Maybe, on paper, you’d say that you didn’t think we’d shoot the ball as well as we have,” A&M coach Williams said. “I think, for us, you could argue we should shoot more (threes).
“From a percentage standpoint, we’re doing really well on threes.”
However, the Aggies’ proficiency with threes is tempered by their deficiency on frees.
A&M is the SEC’s most inaccurate team at the free-throw line with a paltry 64.5 percent average. That was a major issue in a 68-64 loss to TCU in which the Aggies converted just 44.4 percent at the foul line.
The Aggies have posted four consecutive victories since then, but their free-throw shooting has been wildly inconsistent.
If they improve free-throw shooting, the Aggies might become a factor in the SEC race. Well, that and upgrade a couple of other statistical categories.
“I learned we have the capability to be a top 30 team on defense,” senior guard Quenton Jackson said of A&M’s non-conference performance. “Our offense … when we run fast in transition … we can be a great team as well.
“When we limit turnovers we’re an even better team. When we offensive rebound we are even a better team. When we execute everything that’s in the game plan, we’re a really good team.”
The Aggies are certainly a really good defensive team. They allow an average of 61.1 points to rank 41st in the nation in scoring defense.
They could pose a serious problem for Georgia, which averages just 69.9 points, and with Vanderbilt for 13th in the SEC in scoring.
Although 6-11 guard Braelen Bridges leads a list of four players averaging in double figures, the Bulldogs have lost three of their last four games to George Mason, East Tennessee State and Gardner-Webb.
But Williams, who once coached under Georgia coach Tom Crean at Marquette, isn’t taking anything for granted in Athens.
“They have the same record in SEC play that we do,” Williams said. “This is new life for us. New life for them. New life for everybody.
“Obviously, I’m familiar with their staff. I know they know everything that we’re doing.”
Therefore, they should know A&M has a balanced scoring attack with seven players averaging more than seven points.
Jackson has scored 82 points in the last five games to boost his average to a team-leading 13.7 points. That includes a 31-point outburst in an 85-59 victory over Central Arkansas last week.
He hit a couple of treys and converted 7-of 8-free throws in that victory.
Perhaps Jackson can lead the Aggies to improved free-throw shooting during the SEC race while maintaining the 3-point range success they had in non-conference games.
“It’s kind of like the new year,” Jackson said. “It’s a restart. We’re 0-0 right now. Back to the drawing board. Lock in. Everything that happened in non-conference — I wouldn’t say it doesn’t matter — but it’s kind of on the backburner now. We’ve got to lock in and focus on who we’ve got coming up next.”
