A&M CRUISES TO SWEET 16 WITH ROUT OF DEFENDING CHAMPS
Aggies eliminate defending national champs, advance to Sweet 16
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Billy Kennedy’s Texas A&M teams have long been tactful and short on bluster, in a reflection of their toneddown coach.
The Aggies set aside chivalry for a night, however, and cut loose against the defending national champions, then afterward brimmed with bravado. They deserved to, after whipping North Carolina 86-65 on Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.
“You could see it in their eyes,” A&M center Tyler Davis said of the surprisingly timid Tar Heels. “That’s why the coaches told us you have to keep pounding it inside and playing to your strengths. Keep doing what you do, because they really didn’t want to handle us today.”
A&M (22-12) will face Michigan (30-7) on Thursday in the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles. The Wolverines defeated Houston on a last-second shot on Saturday night in Wichita, Kan., to advance. The Aggies have never made the Elite Eight.
Kennedy is the only coach to lead A&M to two Sweet 16s since the Tournament expanded to at least 64 teams, and this time around a handful of his key players overflow with audacity — not necessarily a bad thing when a program is trying to advance further than it ever has.
“With North Carolina, you don’t know
what to expect,” A&M freshman point guard T.J. Starks said. “I thought they were going to come out a little harder than they did. They missed a few shots, and we missed a few shots, but we were just better in a high-level game.”
The Aggies started the season 11-1 and rocketed to fifth nationally, looking at times like the dominant team they have in the NCAA Tournament, before starting Southeastern Conference play 0-5 primarily because of injuries and suspensions.
Two wins from San Antonio
A&M got its act together to go 9-4 over the rest of the league play, but questions abounded about A&M’s consistency, considering both good and bad have come in waves. The Final Four is in San Antonio, and the Aggies are two victories away from playing in the ballyhooed culmination of the NCAA Tournament a few hours from campus.
“They blocked 70,000 shots,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said of the Aggies in a slight exaggeration (it was actually eight). “Let’s don’t say North Carolina screwed this up. Texas A&M is pretty doggone good. What they did to us inside early in the game shocked us, even though we knew they were good.”
A&M had beaten 10th-seeded Providence on Friday, while the Tar Heels (26-11) had no problem with 15th-seeded Lipscomb the same day. North Carolina, however, had issues with the Aggies from the start.
The Tar Heels were favored by about six points in the round of 32 contest, but A&M asserted itself right out of the gate. When small forward D.J. Hogg heats up, the Aggies are hard to beat, and Hogg had made three of six 3-pointers and five of 10 field goals just after halftime to help spring A&M to a double-digit lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Aggies shot 52 percent from the field compared to 33 percent for the Tar Heels. Starks led the Aggies with 21 points, and Davis added 18. The Aggies also beat North Carolina in 1980 in the round of 32 in the teams’ only previous postseason meeting.
That game went to doubleovertime. This one wasn’t in doubt from halftime on, when the Aggies led 42-28 thanks to a couple of hot hands outside and Davis and forward Robert Williams grinding away inside.
Big edge on boards
The Aggies held a 50-36 rebounding advantage, with Williams, a likely first-round selection in the NBA draft this summer, snagging a game-high 13 rebounds. The Aggies led 6951 with less than six minutes remaining when Williams collected his second windmill dunk of the NCAA Tournament.
“People knew what was coming,” Williams said with a smile of when he broke loose on a fast break. “I looked over at the whole bench. I wanted to take it through my legs this time, but I saw coach Kennedy …”
And Williams settled for the windmill — out of respect for his understated coach.