Texas A&M hopes defensive prowess can keep pace with No. 20 Missouri
Strong defense appears to have the direction of Texas A&M’s basketball season.
Continued defensive excellence could keep the Aggies on course to be contenders in the Southeastern Conference race.
Dominant defense — especially in the first half — propelled A&M (10-5, 2-0) to SEC-opening victories over Florida and LSU. The Aggies limited those opponents to 39.7 percent shooting while allowing an average of just 59.5 points and forcing 35 turnovers.
But a much greater test looms on Wednesday when the Aggies face No. 20 Missouri (13-2, 2-1) at 7:30 p.m. CT at Reed Arena.
Missouri averages 87.1 points to lead the SEC. The Tigers also lead in field goal percentage (50.2 percent), free throw percentage (75.8 percent) and are second in 3-point percentage (37 percent).
A&M handcuffed Florida and LSU by neutralizing big men Colin Castleton and J.K. Williams. However, A&M coach Buzz Williams may be more concerned about Missouri’s style of play than the players themselves.
Missouri is among the fastest teams in the nation. Williams estimates the Tigers use only about eight seconds of the shot clock before shooting. They lead the SEC with 944 field goals attempted — that’s 110 more than A&M.
“It’s not ‘a’ player. It’s the pace at which they play,” Williams said. “They play with great freedom. Their length of possession time is very small, but they also are very effective within those possessions.
I don’t know this is specifically about ‘a’ player as much as it is the way the players play.”
Don’t misunderstand, though. The Tigers have talented players.
Guards D’Moi Hodge and Kobe Brown both average more than 15 points, shoot better than 50 percent from the field and hit more than 40 percent from 3-point range.
Also, point guard Nick Honor averages 9.7 points and has yet to commit a turnover in 114 minutes.
A&M has its threats on the offensive, too. Guard Tyrece Radford has scored at 14 points in each of the last four games. Guard Wade Taylor is averaging 15.4 points. Forward Julius Marble, the SEC Player of the Week last week, has scored 17 points in each of the last two games.
Still, defense has spurred the Aggies’ early surge in SEC play. The defensive schemes that worked against Florida and LSU might not be effective against Missouri, but the Aggies remain confident in their defense.
“We have different schemes every game, but our defense kind of stays the same,” junior forward Henry Coleman said. “We’re going to play super hard. We’re going to keep the ball out of the middle. We’re going to dive on the floor. We’re going to take charges. Our defense doesn’t really change much.
“Coach talks about what we can control. We can control our defense any night and every other night. It starts with us."
