Ready or not, SEC looms for Aggies
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams’s first visit to Arkansas had more to do with a place chock full of baskets and balls than basketball.
“I know my job is that of a coach, but I have an insatiable curiosity for anything I can learn from,” Williams said. “It doesn’t matter if its business or sports or authors.”
A few years ago, Williams soaked in the behind-the-scenes operations of Walmart and Tyson Foods, both based just north of Fayetteville, Ark., and took some of their success secrets home.
“I just went over there trying to learn, not be a basketball coach,” Williams said.
Now, he’s back in the region for basketball as his Aggies (6-5) take on Arkansas (11-1) in the teams’ Southeastern Conference opener at 6 p.m. Saturday in a sold-out Bud Walton Arena.
“As soon as you walk in, the fans are right there, and they’re already hollering,” said A&M junior guard Jay Jay Chandler. “And they’re doing their little Razorback noise.”
The Aggies, in their first season under Williams, have made a little noise lately, entering SEC play with a three-game win streak.
“All of Buzz’s teams play hard,” Arkansas first-year coach Eric Musselman said. “(And) conference play is a whole different mindset for everybody involved, and I know how competitive Coach Williams is and how his teams (play).”
The Aggies, still finding their way under Williams, had a discomfiting skid early in the season with three consecutive losses to Harvard, Temple and Fairfield in the Orlando (Fla.) Invitational. During a second-half comeback at home against Oregon State, when the Aggies wiped out an 11-point second-half deficit and won by 15, players began showing signs of grasping Williams’ approach.
“Our chemistry has gotten better, our discipline has gotten better and our mindset has gotten better,” said freshman forward Emanuel Miller, who originally pledged to Williams at Virginia Tech but signed with the Aggies when Williams made the move last spring. “Coming into this year, I don’t think a lot of our guys were fully committed or on the same page.
“As the games have gone by and the practices have gone by, we’re getting on the same page.”
Arkansas dismissed Mike Anderson last spring and hired Musselman from Nevada. The Razorbacks are one of 11 NCAA teams with one or fewer losses, and Williams pointed to their defense as a strength.
So is their shooting. Arkansas has two players in the SEC’s top five in scoring in Mason Jones second (19.7 points per game) and Isaiah Joe fourth (17.4 ppg).
Musselman dubbed Saturday’s matchup one of contrasting styles, and that could apply to the Aggies’ long-range shooting compared to most of their opponents. A&M ranks dead last — 350th in the NCAA — in 3-point shooting percentage entering league competition, just behind Kennesaw State and Mississippi Valley State.
“I just tell the truth,” Williams said. “That’s not always the right thing politically, but I never want to use the media to talk to a team. … We (just) need to be able to shoot the ball better, and some of that has to do with the talent on the roster needing to be able to make open shots.”