Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams wants his Aggies to build on recent success when they host SMU on Wednesday night in College Station, Texas.
The Southeastern Conference’s Aggies (4-2) will be seeking their third straight victory after beating Loyola-Chicago and DePaul.
Williams said his team’s season so far can be divided into three sections: two home wins against overmatched opponents (Louisiana-Monroe, Abilene Christian), dropping two of three at the Myrtle Beach Invitational, and then the 82-66 road victory at DePaul on Friday.
“We have focused more on us than I ever remember doing in the month of November, and we have seen some growth,” Williams said Tuesday in explaining why he tries to let his coaching staff, and not the players, concentrate on studying the opponent.
The Aggies coach said he’d like to see his team do a better job with defensive rebounding and avoiding fouls away from the basket against SMU.
Wade Taylor IV (15.3 points per game, 17 steals), Tyrece Radford (12.3 ppg., 4.2 rebounds per game) and Henry Coleman III (9.3 ppg., 5.5 rpg.) have led the way for Texas A&M.
“Coach Buzz said that if the test that we went through in Myrtle Beach is the hardest test we have to go through this year, then we’re in great shape,” Taylor said Tuesday of losses to Murray State and Colorado before the win against Loyola-Chicago.
The American Athletic Conference’s Mustangs (3-3) enter the game coming off a 75-50 victory against Lamar on Sunday.
“I thought it was another day where, defensively, we’re starting to hang our hat there more and more, and we’re starting to see the value in that,” first-year coach Rob Lanier said.
“We got to get better at running, and getting out, and attacking. We’re a little too tentative.”
Zhuric Phelps, averaging a team-best 18.5 points per game, also leads the Mustangs in assists (17) and steals (10). He grabs 4.5 boards per game.
Zach Nutall (12.7 ppg.) and Efe Odigie (9.5 ppg., 9.5 rpg.) also help fuel SMU’s attack.
–Field Level Media
