Texas A&M’s quest to reach the Southeastern Conference basketball summit has stalled.
However, that doesn’t mean the Aggies are heading for the cliffs.
Despite enduring consecutive close losses to Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU, the Aggies (15-5, 4-3) hope to resume their climb on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when South Carolina (12-7, 3-4) visits Reed Arena.
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said the Aggies haven’t really fallen into a slump. Rather, they’ve just faced the reality of playing in a conference rife with strong teams.
“What’s hurt us is the opponent,” Williams said. “What’s hurt us is we’ve played more on the road than we have at home thus far. What’s hurt us is there are a lot of really good teams and a (small) margin (of error).
“This game will have some remnants of 50-50 balls, tough-guy plays on the glass, but it will be at a lot faster pace.”
- A&M coach Buzz Williams
“It’s like climbing a mountain. The air keeps getting thinner and thinner.”
Williams said the Aggies cannot breathe easy against South Carolina, which has won its last two games.
“South Carolina is playing faster than any team in our league,” he said. “Play a lot of zone. A lot of zone full court trying to turn you over. A lot of zone in the half-court.
“They’ve won their last two. Always the toughest team in the league in regards to how they compete.”
The Aggies compete hard, too.
They missed a game-tying 3-point attempt with 17 seconds remaining before falling to No. 12 Kentucky, 64-58.
They trailed by one point with less than a minute remaining in overtime before falling to Arkansas 76-73.
They missed a 3-point attempt to take the lead with 22 seconds left before losing to LSU 70-64.
“I think we have actually played really well,” Williams said. “I thought we played great against Kentucky. I thought we did some really good things against Arkansas other than how we started.
“We were not tough enough against LSU. They beat us to too many 50-50 balls. This game will have some remnants of 50-50 balls, tough-guy plays on the glass, but it will be at a lot faster pace.”
The near-misses have not created any doubt among the Aggies. They seem to have gleaned more confidence in the close losses.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
Despite their recent losses, the Aggies have played well and had an opportunity to win each game.
“We lost three tight games,” senior guard Quenton Jackson said. “It’s not like we came out and we didn’t do anything we’re supposed to do and we got demolished. We were in the game.
“Some of those games went into overtime. Half those games, you look at the (point) spread, and we’re not even supposed to be in those games. Things just didn’t go our way. We’re trying to figure out how to get that done.”
Senior guard Tyrece Radford suggested identifying what must be done isn’t the problem.
“Everything leads back to practice and how we’re getting back to our identity,” Radford said. “Playing tough and not taking possessions off. Taking better care of the ball in certain situations and making the right decisions at the right times.
“You know what you’ve got to do. We know what time it is. I feel like we got a little too comfortable. We’ve definitely got time to get back to our pace.”
