No. 13 A&M hoping recent purge brings surge against Oklahoma

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Maybe a purge will bring a surge.

That’s what No. 13 Texas A&M (15-5, 4-3) hopes for on Tuesday night when the Aggies face Oklahoma (15-4, 2-4) in a vital Southeastern Conference basketball clash on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Reed Arena.

The Maroon & White seek to cleanse away the stain of Saturday’s 70-69 loss to Texas. Nothing could do that faster than a bounce-back victory.

“I think one of the things we talked about yesterday when we were working is you have to purge in order to get to the next thing,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said on Monday. “You can’t live in the past, even if the result was bad.”

It was bad. Horrific, actually. The Aggies could not protect a 22-point second-half lead. That’s the kind of devastating loss that can sidetrack a successful season.

Therefore, it’s extra important for the Aggies to rebound and get back on track.

“I told them yesterday: Are we going to lose Tuesday because we lost Saturday?” Williams said. “Or are we going to win Tuesday because of how we handled Saturday?”

Star senior guard Wade Taylor IV said the purge was completed even before the Aggies got back from Austin on Saturday night.

“I feel like we purged on the bus,” Taylor said.” You can’t harp on it too long because it will affect you for the next game. Ever since we’ve been talking about purging, we’ve been doing great.”

To Taylor’s point, the Aggies had to purge back-to-back losses with Alabama and Kentucky. They responded with consecutive victories over LSU and Ole Miss, in which they rallied from a double-digit deficit to prevail 63-62.

That Ole Miss game was one of two in SEC play in which the Aggies made furious rallies to pull out victories.

The other was against Oklahoma, 80-78, in which A&M rallied from an 18-point deficit.

The Aggies prevailed despite playing on the road without Taylor, who was injured. Also, OU guard Brycen Goodine came off the bench to hit nine times from 3-point range en route to a season-high 34-point outburst.

Sooners forward Jalon Moore, who averages 18 points, and guard Jeremiah Fears, who averages 16.7 points, obviously pose problems.

But the Aggies may be more focused on themselves. Williams said A&M must do a better job playing defense without fouling, getting defensive rebounds, finishing drives and converting free throws.

A&M has the SEC’s lowest free throw percentage at 67.4. The Aggies converted just three of eight free throw attempts in the loss to Texas.

“If you came to practice, you would not think we have the yips in a game,” Buzz Williams said of A&M’s problems at the foul line. “Then it becomes psychology. Do you talk about it? Should we have a prayer session? Should we anoint you with oil?

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Zhuric Phelps had a career-high 34 points, including a late 3-point dagger, vs. Oklahoma on January 8.

“Or, in our program, if you step to the line, be tough enough to shoot it and make it.”

Taylor’s presence should help with that. He’s converting 89.3 percent of his free throws. As a result, he’s averaging 14.7 points. Fellow guard Zhuric Phelps averages a team-high 15.1 points per game.

Taylor helps the defensive effort, too. His next steal will be the 200th of his career. He will be the fourth Aggie to reach that mark.

He’ll also be the first Aggie to score 1,400 points — already has 1,823 — and get 200 steals.

However, Taylor’s leadership and maturity could be greater assets than his point production or on-court thievery.

Statistics are fun, but A&M badly needs a victory to purge the contaminants of the Texas loss and avoid another setback.

“I think you have to have great value to each game,” Williams said. “So your response — even when it’s a positive one — you have to have the maturity to get to the next one.

“Even when the response from a bad one, the same maturity is required. You do want to bounce back. You want to see if you can flip it back. That’s why you always hear all those coaches say we just want to go 1-0 because you have to stay locked into what it is.”