Texas A&M Basketball: Men's Hoops Squeak by South Carolina State
Despite a sizable halftime lead, the Texas A&M basketball team won a close one against the Bulldogs of South Carolina State by a final score of 83-76.
The Aggie hoopers improved to 7-2 after battling with the Bulldogs of South Carolina State at Reed Arena on Saturday. The team went into the locker room at the half up 48-31, but a lazy second half performance produced a closer game than expected.
Stats and Such
Saturday night marked the third time this season that a quartet of Aggies were in double figures in scoring. Tyler Davis lead the way with 22 points, his 2nd career 20+ point game. Admon Gilder had 16 on the night, followed by DJ Hogg and Robert Williams who both notched 15. This was a career high for Williams and the fifth time Hogg has reached double digits on the season.
In addition to his 16 point night, Admon Gilder added a career high six rebounds to his night. Freshman Robert Williams added yet another blocked shot, making this his ninth consecutive game with at least one blocked shot.
As a team, the Aggies reached a season high 54.9 percent field goal percentage, 28 of 51. They also reached a season high in free throw attempts as well as made free throws, making 23 of the 37 attempted.
March 24, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Billy Kennedy watches game action against Oklahoma Sooners during the first half of the semifinal game in the West regional of the NCAA Tournament at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Hear from the Coach
Despite some nice looking statistics, the Aggies were outscored 45-35 in the second half. This one almost ran away from them and Coach Kennedy was not impressed by it. He had no problem showing his disapproval either.
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“Our effort wasn’t great. I didn’t think our effort was good. At times in practice we have to coach effort. That is the sign of a team that is young, relaxes and thinks the game is over, so they can do whatever they want and still win. That will get you beat by Arizona by twenty-five.” Coach Kennedy said during the post game press conference.
Kennedy took some responsibility for the mistakes made Saturday night, but says that a step up in effort would greatly help in solving the issues that seem to plague the Aggies at many points this season.
Kennedy said that the team showed about 10 full minutes of really good basketball, but in comparison about 10 or more minutes of bad basketball. In his eyes, that is a sign of immaturity. His goal is to get to where the team is consistently playing 40 full minutes of good, complete basketball.
What’s Next?
The Aggies will face Arizona on Saturday December 17 in Houston. The game will be televised on ESPN2. This will be one of two more games that stand in the way of the Aggies and their conference schedule as they prepare to defend their share of the SEC title.
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