Texas A&M no match for Gonzaga in 30-point loss.
COLLEGE STATION – Buzz Williams said this week “If you build it, they will come” in tackling the construction of a consistently solid program in Texas A&M basketball.
Friday night revealed his task will be no overnight gig, in the Aggies’ first true test of the season. No. 8 Gonzaga (4-0) rolled into College Station for the first time in history and slid out with a 79-49 victory over the backpedaling, overwhelmed Aggies (2-1).
“There were lessons throughout, in every possible way,” Williams said. “They whipped us from start to finish.”
Former A&M guard Admon Gilder returned to Reed Arena following his transfer to Gonzaga last summer. Gilder helped lead the Aggie to the Sweet 16s of the NCAA tournament in 2016 and 2018, but he sat out last season following the discovery of a blood clot in his arm and subsequent surgery.
Gilder chose to transfer following the firing of coach Billy Kennedy and the hiring of Buzz Williams from Virginia Tech. Williams said this week he tried talking Gilder into staying, but that his mind already appeared made up.
That was a shame for the Aggies on Friday night, after Gilder finished with 16 points, tying for the team lead with fellow Texan Ryan Woolridge of Mansfield.
The Bulldogs started slowly, in missing 12 of their first 15 shots over the first eight minutes before accustoming themselves to their Southeast Texas surroundings and about 12,000 fans in the 13,000-seat arena.
Gonzaga strung together a 20-0 run from about the midpoint of the first half until a little more than two minutes remained until the break – a break the Aggies were relieved to take after being run up and down their own court.
The Aggies started the season with home victories against Northwestern (La.) State and Louisiana-Monroe. They had to overcome a 10-point second half deficit against ULM, one of the first signs this might be a rebuilding gig for Williams, who took one of the ACC’s worst programs in Virginia Tech and led the Hokies to a school-record three consecutive NCAA tournaments before exiting Blacksburg, Va., for Brazos County.
The Aggies stay at home against Troy on Wednesday, before playing on the road for the first time against Harvard on Thanksgiving Day in the Orlando Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
Friday marked the first time the Aggies drew a good crowd under Williams, for three primary reasons: A top 25 nonconference program playing at A&M for the first time since 1996, the Aggies playing their final home football game on Saturday night at Kyle Field against South Carolina, and the A&M soccer team playing across the street in the NCAA tournament.
Williams is no stranger to a rebuild, after turning around a Virginia Tech program that lost to perennial power Duke by a bucket in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament last season.
He inherited a handful of solid players in forwards Savion Flagg and Josh Nebo and guards Wendell Mitchell and Jay Jay Chandler, but the Aggies also are relying on about seven newcomers to try and compete in the SEC starting in January.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few said afterward he’s known Williams for a long time and there’s no question he’ll have A&M winning consistently, adding rebuilds “take time.”
In addition this week, A&M junior guard TJ Starks was arrested by College Station police on charges of less than two ounces of marijuana possession. Williams immediately indefinitely suspended Starks, who already was sitting out the first part of the season with an ankle sprain.