No. 21 Texas A&M looks to reignite its offense on Wednesday night when it hosts reeling DePaul in College Station, Texas.
After racing out to a fast start to the season, the high-octane Aggies (6-2) lost for the second time in three games on Nov. 29, a 59-47 setback at Virginia in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Texas A&M’s Henry Coleman III returned from a one-game absence caused by an ankle injury to record his third double-double of the season.
The Virginia native collected 16 points and 14 rebounds and made 8 of 14 shots from the floor, but the rest of the Aggies combined to sink 9 of 42 (21.4 percent). The 17 field goals were just one more than the team’s turnover total.
Texas A&M did hold a 42-30 edge in rebounds, including an 18-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Those numbers, however, did little to appease Aggies coach Buzz Williams.
“I think the thing that in the end hurt us the most (was turnovers),” Williams said. “We shot more balls than they did. We made more free throws than they attempted. Beat them on the offensive glass, beat them on the defensive glass.
“We gave them the ball 16 times. I understand that we’re not going to play with zero turnovers, but 16 is just an astronomically high number percentage-wise in a 59-possession game.”
Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV, who averages a team-best 18.6 points per game, was limited to nine points on 2-for-10 shooting from the floor — including 1-for-6 from 3-point range. He also committed five turnovers, much to the chagrin of Williams.
The 47-point output likely raised quite a few eyebrows, considering Texas A&M averaged a robust 79.3 over its previous seven games.
Coleman contributes 14.4 points per game. Tyrece Radford, who has missed the Aggies’ past two games due to respiratory problems, adds 13.0 points per contest.
Texas A&M will look to get back on track on Wednesday night against DePaul (1-6), which will hit the road for its first true road game of the season.
The Blue Demons fell for the fourth straight time on Friday, losing 99-80 to Iowa State.
DePaul’s Jeremiah Oden erupted for a season-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. The Chicago product highlighted his performance by making 6 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
Oden acknowledged that he feels extremely comfortable from beyond the arc, and there’s a reason why.
“It’s been something I’ve been putting the work in for years, not just this summer, but my whole basketball career,” Oden said. “So it’s just trusting my shot.
“Give credit to my teammates for finding me. I didn’t have to force anything (against Iowa State), everything came in the flow of the game.”
Chico Carter Jr., who collected 14 points and eight assists vs. the Cyclones, boasts team-best averages in points (13.4) and assists (4.4) per game. Oden is contributing 13.3 points, Elijah Fisher adds 10.4 and Da’Sean Nelson provides 10.3.
–Field Level Media
