Aggies finish 10-8 in SEC to cap Williams’ first year
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams finds it insulting when fans and others try encouraging him with, “Wait until your guys get here.”
“That makes me internally irate,” Williams said on Saturday.
The well-meaning observers are referring to the players he recruits to A&M. But Williams arrived to Reed Arena from Virginia Tech a little less than a year ago with designs to win this season — using both “his” guys and players he inherited from previous coach Billy Kennedy.
Williams’ upbeat approach paid off in grand style, capped by the Aggies’ 77-69 victory over Arkansas on Saturday in Reed Arena.
“Buzz is one of the best coaches in the country,” said Arkansas first-year coach Eric Musselman, adding that Williams has “maximized” his roster this season.
A&M started SEC play with a loss at Arkansas. The Aggies on Saturday paid back the Razorbacks in the regular-season finale, with plenty of improvement between the two meetings for Saturday’s home team.
A&M (16-14, 10-8 SEC) finished with its most victories in league play in four years, when future NBA players Danuel House Jr. and Alex Caruso were leading the Aggies to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 2016, following a 13-5 finish in league play.
Next stop for A&M and Arkansas is the SEC tournament starting Wednesday in Nashville, where the Aggies will at minimum try and make a case for a National Invitation Tournament bid. Their maximum would be winning the SEC tournament for the first time and earning the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
“I’ve learned so many life lessons from these kids,” Williams said of both the players he inherited from Kennedy and the freshman class he had originally recruited to Virginia Tech and then brought with him to A&M. “And the work is the reward.”
The Aggies, picked to finish 12th in the 14-team SEC in a preseason media poll, earned the league’s No. 7 seed in the SEC tournament. They’ll face 10th-seeded Missouri at 6 p.m. Thursday for the right to take on second-seeded Auburn on Friday.
“We put the work in, and once you figure it out and get rolling, you’ve just got to keep building on it,” A&M guard Wendell Mitchell said of the Aggies’ growing resolve this season. “We grind every day.”
The Aggies on Saturday trailed 28-21 with a little more than three minutes remaining until halftime before outscoring the Razorbacks 12-2 headed to the locker room. A&M’s scoring flurry was capped by Josh Nebo’s dunk following an offensive rebound as time expired in the first half.
“An amazing boost,” Mitchell said of the Aggies’ outburst to close the first half. “That was the most energy I’ve ever seen from my teammates.”
Emanuel Miller made four free throws and Mitchell made two layups in that span to shove the Aggies to a surprising halftime lead. Mitchell led A&M with 25 points and Miller grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Mason Jones scored a game-high 30 points for the Razorbacks.
Meantime Nebo, a former Cypress Lakes High standout, finished with 20 points in what’s likely his final college home game, although the Aggies potentially could host an NIT contest. Led by Nebo, the Aggies outscored the Razorbacks 32-10 in the paint.
“We’ve kept figuring out ways to win,” Nebo said of A&M closing out the regular season by winning five of seven games.
A&M swept the season series from Missouri, winning in Columbia, Mo., 66-64 on Jan. 21 and then prevailing 68-51 on Feb. 4 in Reed Arena.