No ‘magic’ solution to reeling Aggies’ woes
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M nine days before Christmas pushed the nation’s current topranked team to the edge before losing by four points at Toyota Center. That now seems like last — not this past — Christmas for A&M fans.
The Aggies, a seeming shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament from the holidays through two weeks ago, have served up their followers four consecutive lumps of coal and are now on the brink of missing the NCAA postseason for the fourth time in coach Buzz Williams’ five years.
What must the Aggies do to get back to where they were shoving the Houston Cougars against the ropes in a nonconference contest before UH ultimately prevailed 70-66 on Dec. 16?
“It’s not a magic thing that needs to happen or a crazy transformation that needs to happen,” A&M guard Jace Carter said Tuesday as the Aggies prepared to host No. 18 South Carolina on Wednesday night. “We just need to go out there and put 40 minutes together, and win a basketball game.”
Do they ever, although Williams’ job does not appear to be on the line after he received a contract extension through 2028 less than a year ago. The Aggies also do not currently have an athletic director after Ross Bjork left last month for the same job at Ohio State, which would seems to help Williams’ cause of sticking around for another season if he so desires.
Williams on Tuesday arrived at a twice-weekly press conference unshaven and wearing a black “Buzz’s Bunch” baseball cap along with a maroon and gray A&M hoodie.
“That’s why I’m not dressed right, I’ve just been studying since the last time I saw you guys,” the oft-dapperly dressed Williams explained of his casual appearance in front of the cameras and his consistent search for answers of late.
Few question Williams’ work ethic and passion for helping his players and trying to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The issue for the Aggies is one appearance and zero wins so far under the former Marquette and Virginia Tech coach who guided the Golden Eagles to the Elite Eight a decade ago.
“It’s, ‘Hey guys, this is what we have to do in this game,’ ” Williams said in not trying to solve the Aggies’ myriad issues at once. “And it’s, ‘How can we get back to those things to win this game?’ Because we can’t answer all those questions in one game.
“But we do need to be able to sufficiently answer some of them.”
The awful-shooting Aggies (15-12, 6-8 SEC) have lost their past four games to Vanderbilt, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee by an average of 17 points, after previously not having lost a game by more than 15 points this season.
Their last outing was their worst: a 35-point loss (86-51) at No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday that prompted ESPN NCAA Tournament bracket expert Joe Lunardi to put the Aggies on the outside looking in for the 68-team NCAA Tournament. This dishevelment all occurred after A&M walloped then-No. 6 Tennessee 85-69 on Feb. 10 at Reed Arena.
“No one is going to feel sorry for us,” Carter said of the Aggies needing to regroup in a hurry with four key SEC regular-season games remaining to try and make their case for the postseason. “No one is going to (say) … you (lost on) two buzzer beaters in the same year.
“No one cares, honestly, so don’t look for someone else’s pity. Don’t look for somebody else to be like, ‘It’s OK, guys.’ … That’s not who we are and not how we were raised. It’s just be a man, put one foot in front of the other and let’s keep going and keep fighting.”
The Aggies host South Carolina, play at Georgia, host Mississippi State and finish the regular season at Mississippi in the hopes of clawing back into NCAA contention. The SEC tournament cranks up March 13 in Nashville, Tenn., and at least a couple of wins in Bridgestone Arena likely wouldn’t hurt, either.
The Gamecocks (22-5, 10-4) under second-year coach Lamont Paris are the SEC’s biggest surprise this season, after they were picked to finish 14th out of the league’s 14th teams in a preseason media poll. The Aggies were picked second.
“We’ve just got to stay with what we do, and continue trusting and believing in what we do,” A&M forward Wildens Leveque said. “It’s been a tough (four) games, but we’ve got to continue on with that belief system, because we’ve beaten (higher-ranked) teams, and we’ve proven we can win those games.
“We need to continue with trusting what we do, and we’ll be just fine.”