Analysis: Men’s basketball continues Big 12 road win streak; Big in-state showdowns ahead
By Turner Dawson
The Texas A&M basketball team traveled to Ames, Iowa to play Iowa State last weekend and picked up a tough win in front of a hostile crowd on the road. The win pushed the then-number 24 ranked Aggies to 8-4 in conference play and guarantees the Aggies will go at least .500 in conference play this season.
This was an ugly win for the Aggies but it counts as a win just the same. The Aggies shot under 40 percent from the field in this game and 27 percent from three. The lid continues to be on the basket for the Aggies as they continue to have problems scoring points.
Kris Middleton led the team in scoring with 14 points and was huge for the Aggies in this one. As the season has progressed, Middleton looks more and more comfortable. He was recruited because of his ability to shoot the three but his shot just hasn’t been falling this year. He’s finding ways to score and contribute with his defense. When his shot starts falling he’s going to be extremely dangerous.
Donald Sloan added 12 points but it was on 4 of 16 shooting from the field and 0 for 5 from three. As I have said before, Donald is the best player on this team and one of the only guys that can create his own shot, but he should not be taking that many shots, especially when he’s shooting 25 percent from the field. Down the stretch this season, the Aggies are going to need Sloan to start making some of those shots he missed against Iowa State and also show some better shot selection.
Bryan Davis had some issues with his shot as he was just 1 of 6 from the field, but he made his presence felt with 13 rebounds. And as much as he has struggled with turnovers throughout his career, he managed to not turn it over in this game. You could argue that some of his missed shots should count as turnovers, but the fact that he didn’t have any actual turnovers in the box score is big for Bryan.
Dash Harris has really been struggling over the last 4 games since he hurt his hand. He has been battling tendonitis and has had a really hard time taking care of the basketball since. He is averaging 4 turnovers a game over the last 4 games. And this is a guy that before this stretch had the best assist to turnover ratio in the entire Big 12.
B.J. Holmes also had a pretty solid game as he finished with 9 points including 2 three pointers. One of the things that I love about this team that also frustrates me is the fact that you never know where the points are going to come from. The Aggies have so many guys that can hurt you and on any given night any of those guys can step up and be the hero.
What is frustrating about that is that there is so much inconsistency. The hero one night is a complete non-factor the next. The guy that is hitting all of his shots one night misses them all the next. The guy that makes all the right decisions and perfect passes one night puts up terrible shots and turns the ball over the next. The question for the Aggies for the rest of the season and going into the tournament will be how consistent can they be and can they get everyone to show up together on the same night.
This next week the Aggies have two tough games. First the will go on the road to Waco to take on Baylor who will be looking to get revenge after their loss at Reed a few weeks back. Then the Aggies will be back at home to take on archrival Texas at Reed Arena.
The Baylor game is going to be a really tough one to win. Baylor is a very talented team and the Baylor fans are going to be extremely fired up for that game. They seem to hate us a lot more than we hate them.
Texas is one of the most talented teams in the country but also one of the most difficult to figure out. They came out early in the season and beat some big name programs but over the last 10 games they are 4-6. The Aggies narrowly lost in Austin early this year in overtime, 72-67. Look for Aggie fans and players to be fired up and ready to take down the Longhorns. If the Aggies can go 1-1 this week, that will put them at 9-5 in conference play and in great position to get a good seed in the NCAA tournament as well as get a bye the first round of the Big 12 tournament.