Aggies seek to exceed SEC expectations
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M guard Marcus Williams said he didn’t particularly care to discuss preseason rankings in early January but admitted some things stick with you from one calendar year to the next.
“In the preseason they had us pretty low, so we want to shock ’em early and come out with a statement win,” Williams said.
A preseason media poll in October pegged the Aggies 12th in the SEC, ahead of only Vanderbilt and Tuesday’s opponent, Georgia. The Aggies are 11-2 while the Bulldogs are 5-8 heading into their league opener at 6 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on ESPNU.
Williams, a former Dickinson High standout who transferred to A&M following one season at Wyoming, said the Aggies are capable of competing “up there with the best of ’em” and their largely successful nonconference showing backs that up.
“We’ve got a lot of fight in us and the game is not over until the clock hits zero,” Williams said.
The Aggies own victories over Butler, Notre Dame and Oregon State, with their two setbacks against Wisconsin and TCU by an average of 7.5 points. A&M has won its last four games against Oregon State, Northwestern State, Dallas Christian and Central Arkansas by an average of 26 points.
“Our guys have been very engaged and locked in and are excited about what’s coming,” A&M third-year coach Buzz Williams said.
Georgia fans understandably have been distracted by the success of their football team — the Bulldogs face Alabama in the national title game Monday — but the basketball team has been low-key awful through 13 games under fourth-year coach Tom Crean.
“They just play with an incredible joy,” Crean said of Georgia’s football players. “They truly play for each other and the biggest thing we’re trying to get to all the time is to play for each other. No question we use (the football team) every chance we get as a formula for success.”
“Success” was the furthest thing from Georgia fans’ minds following the Bulldogs’ 77-60 home loss Wednesday to GardnerWebb to wrap up nonconference play. Buzz Williams waved off the notion that Georgia’s stunning 17-point setback to a Big South Conference foe will have any impact Tuesday.
“They have the same record (in early) January in SEC play as we do,” Buzz Williams said. “We’re all zero and zero, except for the teams that have already played SEC games. This is new life for us, new life for them, new life for everybody.”
Williams was an assistant to Crean at Marquette for one season and took over the Golden Eagles’ program in 2008 when Crean exited for Indiana. Williams led Marquette to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight in 2013 and then resuscitated a stagnant Virginia Tech program from 2015-19.
The Aggies finished 2-8 last season in SEC play, but Crean said he has been struck by A&M’s own revival leading to league play.
“Buzz is a tough guy and he coaches a really tough team,” Crean said. “They’re very aggressive and their veterans are playing like it. … He always has a good defense, but this would appear to me the best offense and the best movement of offense he’s had in his time there. It’s starting to look like his Virginia Tech and Marquette teams.
“They have really, really good spacing and movement and a lot of different guys who can make shots.”
The Aggies are led by senior guard Quenton Jackson, who’s averaging 13.7 points per game and is coming off a career-best 31 points in an 85-59 home victory over Central Arkansas on Wednesday. A&M is wellrounded offensively, with seven players averaging at least seven points per game.
“I may be the leading scorer, but we’ve got a lot of guys scoring (around) the same amount. … We all can score the ball,” Jackson said. “… (Now) this is a restart — kind of like the new year. I won’t say nonconference didn’t matter, but it’s on the back burner now.
“Nonconference is a time when you get to figure out your team, your role, your spots, all of that. It’s a head start for when things get real.”