STILL A CHANCE TO DANCE?
Aggies’ NCAA Tournament hopes aren’t dead, but time is of the essence
C OLLEGE STATION — In the months leading to the tip of Texas A&M’s most promising season under seventh-year coach Billy Kennedy, the Aggies spoke openly of “confetti dreams” — standing in a colorful paper shower when college basketball wraps up in early April in San Antonio at the Final Four. Four games into Southeastern Conference play, A&M has heavily altered its aspirations. Big dreams? These days the Aggies (11-5, 0-4) must only concern themselves with “bid dreams.” They’re in that much danger of missing the NCAA Tournament altogether after a No. 5 ranking only two weeks ago.
“It’s only going to get better,” insisted Kennedy, whose undying optimism has come in handy in the new year.
The Aggies have made the NCAA Tournament once in Kennedy’s six prior seasons, and that Sweet 16 squad started SEC play 7-0 before finishing 13-5 and sharing the league crown with Kentucky. A&M, which has endured a wave of injuries (bad luck) and suspensions (bad decisions), would need to close out conference competition 13-1 just to match that SEC record at this point.
That’s probably not happening, so what exactly must A&M do to ensure it becomes one of the postseason’s most dangerous at-large, low-seed bids? A year ago, five SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament, behind the ACC (nine), Big East (seven), Big Ten (seven) and Big 12 (six).
Vanderbilt squeezed into the NCAA postseason with a 10-8 record in SEC play — none of the other four teams had less than six losses in league action — and had helped itself by advancing to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. Based on that, and keeping in mind A&M’s strong start to the season (11-1) in nonconference play, the Aggies will need to close out the regular season at minimum 10-4, doable for what should be one of the league’s most talented teams.
Chemistry a concern
The Aggies’ top long-range shooter, D.J. Hogg, returned to the lineup in the third game of SEC play following a three-game suspension for the always dreaded (and undisclosed) violation of university policy. Admon Gilder, the Aggies’ top defender, returned Tuesday against No. 21 Kentucky after missing five games with a knee injury.
Kennedy is hopeful starting guard Duane Wilson also returns from a knee injury in Having the trio of D.J. Hogg (left), Admon Gilder (center) and Duane Wilson all in the lineup could be the key to the Aggies making a run to the NCAA Tournament this year. time to play Saturday at No. 24 Tennessee. If he does, it will be only the second time this season the Aggies have a complete roster for a game.
“Chemistry is the biggest challenge from here on out,” Kennedy said.
Chemistry owns some tough competition from “closing out games” on that front, however, based on the Aggies’ past two games. Last Saturday at home, the Aggies led LSU 68-63 with 12 seconds remaining before Tigers freshman Tremont Waters sank consecutive 3-pointers to hush Reed Arena.
On Tuesday night at Kentucky, A&M again fell by a point thanks primarily to poor free-throw shooting down the stretch (what has become a bugaboo for the Aggies), and the inability of Gilder and Hogg to hit a lone 3-pointer with the outcome on the line.
“Those looks were as good as you’re going to get,” Kennedy said of two late misses by the duo. “They are our best shooters, we just missed. We had great opportunities to make open shots throughout the game, and against a zone defense you have to make shots.”
The consecutive one-point losses are at least a step up for the Aggies from how SEC play started, with A&M dropping games against Alabama and Florida by a combined 39 points. The Aggies rose to No. 5 in the Associated Press poll, matching their highest ranking in program history, as recently as two weeks ago. They’ve since dropped to No. 11 and then right out of the poll, a jarring turn of events for a program hoping to wind up its season on the River Walk near the Alamo.
“Everyone has got to be locked in, all of the time,” said junior center Tyler Davis, the team’s leader who made eight of his 10 shots against
Kentucky and led A&M with 21 points.
One player who needs to lock in in a hurry is forward Robert Williams, a potential NBA Draft lottery selection last summer who chose to return for his sophomore season. Williams was suspended the first three games of the season (including an exhibition) for a violation of university policy, and has been inconsistent the rest of the way.
It didn’t help that he missed multiple practices last week with a virus, causing him to sit out the LSU game. He returned against Kentucky, but for the first time in 42 games failed to block at least one shot, bringing his then-nation-leading streak to an end.
“I thought he got tired, and lazy when he got tired, and he missed some free throws that he’s capable of making,” Kennedy said of Williams’ showing against the Wildcats. “But he hasn’t practiced a whole lot (lately), and you could see that in his performance late.”
Other diversions
Meantime A&M’s performances of late have left fans half-jokingly asking when college baseball starts (answer: in a little more than a month). One example of why some of the maroon followers are giving up on hoops and moving on to a smaller ball occurred late in the first half at Kentucky.
The lackadaisical Aggies failed to even inbound the ball to end the first half with a handful of seconds remaining, then laughed about it entering the locker room and wound up losing by a point. Chances are A&M wouldn’t have scored a basket to close out the first half, but the Aggies failed to even give themselves a chance because of their mental mildness in such a situation.
The A&M football team finished 7-6, with Kevin Sumlin fired in late November after his program failed to compete for SEC West titles over his six seasons. He was replaced by Jimbo Fisher from Florida State, prompting a renewed interest in the program based on Fisher’s overall success with the Seminoles.
The basketball team never has advanced past the Sweet 16, while the baseball team advanced to the eight-team College World Series last season, but failed to win a game in Omaha, Neb.
Simply, Aggies are in search of something to yell about (their word for cheer), and with what should be the closest thing A&M has had to a full roster on Saturday at Tennessee, perhaps all is not lost headed down a key stretch in Kennedy’s career.
“They’ve had three guys injured (or sick),” said Kentucky coach John Calipari, always quick to defend and praise his friend Kennedy. “I want you to understand, if we had three guys injured on our team, we’re not winning. A&M could have beaten us, and they could have beaten LSU.
“Billy is doing a heck of a job a little shorthanded. They’re going to be fine. They’ll be fine.”
Will they? The Aggies and their fans will know soon enough, and with confetti fantasies on the backburner, it’s all about bid dreams these days for A&M basketball.