Slumping Texas A&M heads to Kentucky with a chance to make a statement.
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M small forward D.J. Hogg said he became painfully aware of how badly his team needs him to compete in Southeastern Conference play during a recent three-game suspension.
“It just made me more disappointed in myself,” Hogg said of sitting idly by as his team struggled following a hot start. “It just opened my eyes some more, watching them play without me.”
Disappointment, not disdain
Hogg, who returned Saturday in a one-point home loss to LSU but was far from in game shape, said he wasn’t the only one upset with his selfishness — so were his teammates.
“They’re disappointed in me, but not one of them turned their back on me,” Hogg said Monday, as the Aggies prepared for their game at No. 21 Kentucky on Tuesday night. “They all stuck with me and told me to keep my head up.”
That’s because they care about a teammate. They also know they need Hogg’s head up and his eyes open if they’re to make the NCAA Tournament after an awful start to league action.
“We’ve got a lot of basketball left to play,” said Hogg, who missed a non-conference game and then the first two SEC games because of an undisclosed violation of a university rule.
The Aggies (11-4, 0-3) also know they need to get in gear in a hurry if they’re to make the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2016 and the second time in coach Billy Kennedy’s seven seasons. After A&M plays at Kentucky (12-3, 2-1), the Aggies continue on the road at No. 24 Tennessee on Saturday.
“Our guys understand we need all of our pieces to be the best team we can possibly be,” Kennedy said Monday.
Hogg is one of those pieces. So are guards Admon Gilder and Duane Wilson, who’ve both missed recent games with knee injuries. Kennedy said Gilder, who’s missed the last five games, should be back against the Wildcats; he hopes to have Wilson back against Tennessee.
In addition, star forward Robert Williams has practiced the last two days after missing the LSU game with a virus, and Kennedy said he should be ready to go against Kentucky. A&M has yet to have anything close to a complete rotation in SEC play, and Tuesday at UK should be the closest yet — and not a moment too soon.
A little more than a week ago the Aggies, at the time 11-1 heading into SEC play, were ranked fifth nationally, tying for their highest ranking in Associated Press poll history, and clutching dreams of finishing the season in San Antonio, this year’s home of the Final Four. After falling to No. 11 last week, the sagging Aggies dropped out of the poll Monday.
“It’s the same thing we talked about with Arizona losing three in a row earlier in the year and Florida losing three in a row earlier in the year,” Kennedy said. “And the fact that we’ve lost (these games) doesn’t mean we can’t get to where we want to get at the end of the year.”
Without Gilder and Wilson but with the return of a largely docile Hogg, A&M led LSU 6863 with 12 seconds remaining before Tigers freshman Tremont Waters sank consecutive 3-pointers to torpedo the Aggies and keep them winless in SEC play.
“The whole thing was good,” Kennedy said. “Except the two shots we gave up at the end of the game.”
Hogg finished 3-of-9 from the field, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range, and appeared out of breath at times during his return from the three-game suspension.
“Game shape is definitely a different type of shape than practice,” Kennedy said.
“I got winded the first couple of minutes,” Hogg said of his fatigue. “(But) I played a lot that game so I’m not complaining.”
Finding their 3-point stroke
The Aggies have been awful from the 3-point line of late, going 20-of-95 over their last five games (22 percent) while missing their top guards.
They’re hoping Hogg regains his form from earlier in the season, and sooner rather than later, considering he’s 35-of-73 (48 percent) in playing in 12 of the Aggies’ 15 games.
In addition, Kennedy said the players’ off-court transgressions are behind them, considering Hogg has been suspended twice and Williams, Gilder and guards T.J. Starks and J.J. Caldwell also have served suspensions this season.
“We’ve got a good handle on our team, from learning from our mistakes we made before Christmas,” Kennedy said. “From here on out, we expect to be in good shape. The injuries compounded everything — and losing compounds everything.”