Ags’ time running out to turn it around
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M guard Admon Gilder glanced past playing Kansas, and not because he’s overlooking the perennial powerhouse. He simply knows how bad the Aggies need a victory, no matter their foe, if they are to have a future beyond the regular season.
“It’s going to take somebody in the locker room, other than just the coaches, to say, ‘Hey guys, this is a big one for us,’ ” Gilder said Friday. “To say that we need to buy in as a team and do what we need to do to win. This would be a great one to win for us down the road.”
Any victory would be welcome for the Aggies, who face Kansas on Saturday in fabled Allen Fieldhouse in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge. A&M (13-7, 2-6) has 10 SEC games remaining after this “break” in league play against the nation’s No. 5 team, and the Aggies realize their NCAA Tournament hopes are slipping out of their grasp.
“Our team is better than we’ve been playing, and it’s my job to get them better,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said.
A&M entered SEC play clutch-
ing KU’s current perch: ranked No. 5 nationally and a likely lock for the postseason. Injuries, suspensions, lack of cohesion and worse play have dropped a collective haymaker on that goal, and the staggered Aggies are pleading for a late rally.
Still believers
“We know inside what we’ve still got, what we believe we still have,” forward Robert Williams said. “We have to keep that mindset.”
With a complete roster for one of the few times this season, the Aggies won consecutive home contests against Mississippi and Missouri in their sixth and seventh SEC outings, only to plummet back to earth Tuesday night at LSU.
The Tigers whipped the Aggies 77-65, with A&M committing a season-high 20 turnovers and with guards Duane Wilson, Gilder, Savion Flagg, T.J. Starks and D.J. Hogg making a combined 6 of 34 shots (18 percent). Put another way, Williams (10-of-14) made four more shots than the misfiring fivesome in 20 less attempts.
“We have to make shots,” Kennedy said. “You have to score to win games, and that’s something we’re struggling at.”
A&M’s frontcourt of Williams and center Tyler Davis combined for 33 points and 27 rebounds against LSU, and A&M held a 5030 advantage in rebounds.
“It’s been anger mixed with emotion,” Williams said of totaling 34 points and 24 points in the last two games. “I had been leaving the court (in prior games) knowing I could have done something that I didn’t do. I’m just trying to put it all out there.”
But the frontcourt’s improved numbers didn’t matter against LSU, based on the Aggies’ awful guard play. Kennedy said Gilder and Wilson aren’t 100 percent recovered from knee injuries that kept them out of SEC play early, and that young guards like Starks and Flagg should earn more minutes as a result.
It’s not too late
Gilder, who’s considered the team’s top defender, said there’s no way he’s waving the white flag with 10 SEC games to go — and one big nonconference date at Kansas.
“We’re taking it personally,” Gilder said of the starting backcourt’s lack of production. “Duane and I had a talk about how we didn’t have great games against LSU. We’ve been too worried about injuries and how we’re playing. We just need to go out there and do the things we’re capable of doing.”
Based on their overall talent and an 11-1 start before wobbling, the Aggies know if they do the things they’re capable of from here out, they’ll be right back in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid.
“We do have enough games to build a résumé and finish strong,” Kennedy said. “But we’re not going to win any games if we don’t play better than we played against LSU.”