Williams’ rise fuels Aggies’ rebound
Sophomore surging entering showdown with No. 24 Kentucky
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M forward Robert Williams jumps so high he has to be careful not to knock his head on the basketball rim — something he said happened a couple of times in high school.
“Back when I could jump,” Williams said with a chuckle.
The 6-10 Williams is considered one of the nation’s top leapers, one more reason why he projects as a first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft.
“It’s slowed down a bit,” Williams said of his jumping now vs. then. “In high school, I was a pogo stick.”
Williams, a soaring sophomore, has looked more like a pogo stick of late for the Aggies, who play host to No. 24 Kentucky at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in Reed Arena. After fighting sickness early in Southeastern Conference play, Williams is back to his old self, with plenty of alley-oop dunks and blocks along the way.
Williams scored 16 points in making all but one of his nine shots from the field, and he notched a couple of highlight-reel stuffs Wednesday night in the Aggies’ 81-80 upset of No. 8 Auburn on the road.
That was after making all five of his shots and recording five blocks a week ago in the Aggies’ 83-60 whipping of South Carolina in Reed Arena.
“He’s just growing up in a lot of areas,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “He’s maturing and understanding you can’t take possessions off and just rely on talent. His energy level has been better, and he’s feeling better (after the sickness), and he’s now in the kind of shape maybe he wasn’t in earlier in the year.”
Williams said junior center Tyler Davis, the team’s leader, has played a big role in his maturity and hustle.
“He’s been hard on me about being aggressive every game, telling me we need it every game to be able to win,” Williams said.
Wildcats a thorn
The Aggies (16-8, 5-6) have won five of their last six league games, in clawing back toward .500 against SEC opponents. A&M was ranked fifth nationally entering SEC play but lost its first five league games because of injuries and suspensions.
The fourth of those five losses was at Kentucky by a lone point, a tidbit not lost on the Aggies or their fans as they anticipate a sellout Saturday night.
“People at A&M hold a grudge against Kentucky basketball,” Williams said. “(We’re) sick of losing to them, simple as that.”
The Aggies have lost four straight and seven of their last eight contests against the Wildcats (17-7, 6-5), who enter Reed on a two-game skid and, as one of the nation’s blue-blood programs, are enduring some atypical criticism under coach John Calipari.
“I saw that (the Aggies) beat Auburn,” Kentucky sophomore forward Wenyen Gabriel said. “That’s a good win for them. Maybe that will just make this win even better for us, when we beat them.”
The Wildcats have never lost three consecutive games under Calipari, in his ninth season in Lexington, Ky. Calipari said with the Aggies’ resurgence, the Wildcats know they have their hands full.
“Now that they’re healthy, they’re winning games,” Calipari said. “They were a top-five team to start the year, and all of a sudden you turn around, and they’re back to being (like) a top-10 team.”
Raucous crowd likely
Meanwhile, Kennedy on Friday glanced around at the 13,000-plus free white T-shirts on every seat in Reed Arena in anticipation of a raucous atmosphere.
“That’s what these guys come here for,” Kennedy said of his players. “That’s why we try and recruit the best kids in the country, in telling them they can come here and experience this type of atmosphere, and that basketball is relevant here. It means something.”
After Saturday, the Aggies, trying to make their second NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons, play four of their last six SEC games on the road, leading to the SEC tournament that starts March 7 in St. Louis.
As for Williams guarding against hitting his head on the rim, as he almost did at Auburn? He said he’s more wary of it happening on defense than offense.
“On an alley-oop, I’m just trying to put the ball in the rim,” Williams said. “For a block, you don’t know where the rim is, you just know you’re trying to block a person’s shot.”