Maroon Weekly

Analysis: Look for Aggies to be a dangerous team in the tournament

By Turner Dawson
Photos by Joe Buvid

The Texas A&M basketball team closed out the regular season with two more wins to stretch their record to 22-8 overall and 11-5 in the Big 12. The Aggies hosted the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Reed Arena and honored five senior players on senior night before traveling to Norman to take down the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Aggies honored seniors Donald Sloan, Derrick Roland, Bryan Davis, Shawn Schepel, and Chris Chapman before the game and the winningest senior class in school history went out with a bang.

Four of the five seniors saw action in this game. The only one that didn’t was guard Derrick Roland because he has not recovered from the broken leg that he suffered earlier this season. But he was honored with chants of “We Want Roland” at the end of the game.

The Aggies jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead as Sloan hit a three on the Aggies first possession and then Khris Middleton hit back to back threes. The Aggies continued to build the lead before falling apart a little bit when Oklahoma State started to press. The Aggies began turning the ball over and went into halftime up by only three.

But the Aggies came out firing again in the second half and took control the rest of the way. Donald Sloan led the way as he finished with 19 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The biggest weakness the Aggies had last season was the lack of a go to guy on offense. Sloan’s emergence this season as the guy will make this team very dangerous now that the Aggies head into post season play.

David Loubeau has continued to grow and mature as the season has gone along and he had another good game as he added 14 points. He has emerged as one of the best back to the basket players in the entire Big 12. He is virtually impossible to guard one on one, which is why I continue to be confused why teams don’t double the post on us. As good as Loubeau is one on one, he really struggles at times against the double team. With Sloan and Loubeau leading the way the Aggies won on senior night, 76-61.

The Aggies then went on the road to Norman to take on the struggling Oklahoma Sooners on their senior night. Oklahoma came out hot and rode that emotion of the pre-game festivities as they were on fire from three point range to start. But the Aggies got things under control and made a run at the end of the first half and went into halftime with the lead, 36-32.

Just like in the OSU game, the Aggies came out firing in the second half and stretched the lead out to double figures and cruised to victory. It was a nice, well rounded performance by the Aggies and a big road win. Khris Middleton showed his continued maturation as he finished with a quiet 15 points. He will be an x-factor in the Big 12 and NCAA tournament for the Aggies. If he can hit some shots and be effective, this is a very dangerous team.

Bryan Davis also was big as he picked up a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and one block. Davis has been plagued throughout his career by inconsistency and a propensity to try to do things he isn’t physically capable of. Lately he has been playing within himself and doing the dirty work down low. He is a tremendous player when he does those things and he showed his value in this game.

The Aggies now go into the Big 12 tournament as the number four seed and will have a first round bye. They will play the winner of the Missouri vs. Nebraska first-round game. The Aggies are without question in the NCAA tournament; at this point the Aggies are just trying to get a better seed.

If the Aggies lose to Missouri in their first game in the tournament, I think the Aggies are probably a 5 seed and possibly a 6. If the Aggies win their first game against Missouri and then lose to Kansas, then I think they are definitely a 5 seed. If they win their first two games, and then lose in the championship of the Big 12 tournament, I think the Aggies are a 4 seed, but maybe still a 5. And if the Aggies win the whole tournament, I think they deserve a 3 seed but they could still end up with a 4.

Ultimately, I see this Aggie team getting a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and making some serious noise. If that is the case, the Aggies will play a 12 seed with a chance to become one of four teams in the entire country to win at least one NCAA tournament game each of the last 5 years. Coach Mark Turgeon deserves a lot of credit for the incredible job he has done with this team despite losing Junior Elonu to the draft and Derrick Roland to injury. I think this is a top ten  team if we still have those two players.