It’s been an eventful season for Texas A&M. Too eventful, in some ways. And yet, the Aggies keep on winning.
Eighth-ranked A&M improved its record to 11-1 with another win Thursday night, pulling away late to put away Buffalo 89-73 in a game quite a bit closer than the final score indicated. The Aggies led by just four with a little over three minutes before closing out strong at the foul line, finally shaking the stubborn Bulls, who also took Syracuse to the final minutes on the road two nights earlier.
The bigger news of the day came just before tip, when the school announced that three players were being suspended, with key rotation guards J.J. Caldwell and T.J. Starks sitting for one game for “violation of team rules” and leading scorer D.J. Hogg out for three games for a “violation of Texas A&M policy.” This came after Monday’s news that guard Admon Gilder will be out 2-3 with a knee injury, and Robert Williams also missed the team’s narrow win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday.
In addition to being a bad day for players going by initials, it also left the Aggies very shorthanded against Buffalo. Just seven players got into the game for A&M. Fortunately, five of them scored in double figures, including Duane Wilson with 23 points and 11 assists. Williams also returned and came off the bench to contribute just two points but eight rebounds and three steals, as the Aggies out-rebounded the Bulls 44-34.
Texas A&M got the job done defensively, in general. The Bulls hit 17 three-pointers, but also just nine two-point baskets and 4 of 11 free throws, and Buffalo shot below 38% from both the field and the line (they did hit 17 of 39 from long range).
A&M has been outstanding defensively all season, holding teams to 36.1% shooting from the field and 26.8% from the three-point line (and even 62.4% from the stripe…) It’s done so with players seemingly constantly in and out of the lineup-just four Aggies have played in every game this season.
How long can Texas A&M keep it up? Will all the ins and outs eventually catch up with one of the bigger surprises of this season so far? (Talented as we all knew they were, the Aggies still were a 16-15 team a year ago). SEC play is expected to be brutal, but early evidence suggests that A&M is ready to be a heavyweight. If it can get whole eventually, but maybe even if it doesn’t.
Side Dishes:
- San Diego State needed a big statement win, and it got it by edging Gonzaga 72-70. The Aztecs never trailed and fended off numerous threats by the Bulldogs, doing the right amount to win despite shooting just 36.1%. Sixteen turnovers did not help the Zags’ cause, but SDSU was the tougher team on this night. And Viejas Arena looked great on TV again.
- Arizona and Connecticut looked primed for a great finish, but the Wildcats heated up late, the Huskies stumbled and the result was a 73-58 Arizona win. A 14-1 run late did the trick for the Wildcats, who got 20 from Rawle Alkins and a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards from Dusan Ristic.
- Purdue has proven it is not going to be caught napping when playing its buy games. The Boilermakers dominated a previously undefeated Valparaiso team earlier this year, and last night they pounced on Tennessee State 97-48, never allowing the Tigers to be in it just a few nights after they nearly won at Texas.
- Notre Dame was having a tough time again in the first half against Southeastern Louisiana, but the Irish pulled away in the second half and looked more like themselves in winning going away 86-50. T.J. Gibbs (18), Rex Pflueger (18), Matt Farrell (17) and Bonzie Colson (16) shared the scoring load equally.
- Rhode Island was pushed by Iona, trailing by nine in the second half before rallying for an 80-74 win. This is a good series, one that these two teams should keep going.
- Cincinnati got a good battle from Cleveland State, which trailed by just six late until the Bearcats pulled away for an 81-62 win to extend their Division I-best homecourt winning streak to 33 games, even as UC isn’t playing in its actual home gym this year…
- Kent State hosted a Pac-12 team for the first time ever and made Oregon State pay for a trip well across the country, defeating the Beavers 79-78. The score is slightly deceiving (OSU hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin).
- The Pac-12’s mostly yucky night continued with Portland State blowing out California on the road 106-81. The Vikings are legit, folks, and wow did they set the tempo in this one, pressuring the Golden Bears into 26 turnovers, doing very much what they did earlier this year against Stanford with their relentless press. PSU also had six players score in double figures.
- Everyone is threatening three-point records these days, as the novelty of the long-range shot continues to wear thin from this view. Florida State is one of the latest to do so, as the Seminoles hit 19 treys-one off the school record-in a 98-45 destruction of Southern Mississippi.
- Butler made a ton of triples too-18 of them in a 107-46 rout of a Western Illinois team that actually was a surprising 7-3 coming in.
- It’s been some week for the Southern Conference, and the league picked up another nice notch as Tennessee-Chattanooga won at Jacksonville State 70-67, a Mocs team picked at the bottom of the league knocking off one of the Ohio Valley favorites.
- One of the few four-team true in-season tourneys still remaining is the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational, in its 56th year in El Paso. North Dakota State blew out UNC Wilmington 100-63 in the first semifinal, the Bison shooting 61.1% from the field. Host UTEP then won the second semi, topping Howard 69-56 to move to Friday’s championship game.
Today’s Menu: It’s a very busy Friday before Christmas
- The day tips off early. Your opener has Bryant going against Dartmouth at noon Eastern time.
- Temple is at Georgia in what should be a good one (1 p.m., SEC Network). The Bulldogs dominated rival Georgia Tech last time out. The Owls are still a tough team to figure out.
- The college hoops highlight of Christmas is the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, and this year’s event includes a very potent eight-team field where literally every team is capable of doing some damage. Quarterfinals include Middle Tennessee State against Princeton (5:30 p.m., ESPNU), Akron vs. USC (8 p.m., ESPNU), three-point firing Davidson facing New Mexico State (11 p.m., ESPNU) and tourney favorite Miami (Fla.) against host Hawaii. (1 a.m., ESPNU)
- St. Bonaventure appears to be rounding into a very nice club, and the Bonnies (who already have knocked off Maryland) can add a flashy road win if they can take down Syracuse.
- Florida Gulf Coast has been very much up and down, but the Eagles are good enough to make Wichita State sweat if the Shockers can’t solve some defensive issues that have sprung up. (7 p.m., CBSSN)
- Xavier is a team depleted by injury, providing Northern Iowa with even more of a golden opportunity hosting the Musketeers. (9 p.m., CBSSN)
- Northwestern seems to be playing better; we’ll get a better idea when the Wildcats’ experienced backcourt takes on red-hot Oklahoma and Trae Young. (7 p.m., ESPN2)
More football conference power rating cross-pollinating: Texas takes on Alabama, with this one in Birmingham. (9 p.m., ESPN2) Let’s see how the Horns respond after nearly getting dumped by Tennessee State. - Top-ranked Villanova takes on Hofstra in what is technically a road game for the Wildcats, though this is being played at Nassau Coliseum. (8:30 p.m., FS1)
- Louisiana-Lafayette already has knocked off the likes of Iowa and Louisiana Tech this year, and the Ragin’ Cajuns have another big opportunity going to Clemson.
- IPFW followed up its big win at Indiana with a win over a good Liberty team last night. Next up for the Mastodons is another test against athletic Louisiana Tech.
- A good one between top squads in the Southland and Big West has Lamar and Colton Weisbrod facing UC Davis and Chima Moneke in an undercard game at the Las Vegas Classic. The main semifinals has San Francisco vs. Duquesne and Southern Illinois against Nevada, with the Wolf Pack’s Jordan Caroline playing against his former team (11 p.m., FS1).
The Steve Pikiell Bowl has the current Rutgers coach hosting his former Stony Brook team. - Defense-minded, balanced Bradley tries to duplicate the feat accomplished by rival Illinois State less than a week ago: defeating Mississippi on the road.
- Some good regional games: Georgia Southern is at East Tennessee State in a clash of former Southern Conference rivals; College of Charleston goes two hours up the coast to take on Coastal Carolina, and city foes Norfolk State and Old Dominion meet at the old Norfolk Scope, ODU’s former home during its heyday in the Sun Belt Conference.
- Missouri Valley Conference play starts with maybe one of the biggest of all conference games this season as Loyola (Ill.) is at Missouri State. (8 p.m., MVC-TV, including Fox Sports-Midwest if you have satellite)
- Out west, stubborn UNC Asheville-coming off a good win at UNC Greensboro-now takes a shot at Saint Mary’s. The Bulldogs aren’t tall, but their relentless defense will test the Gaels’ patience.
- Finally, Western Michigan is at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and we’ll be on hand covering this one, checking out the MAC preseason favorite Broncos against the Panthers, who could be poised to surprise in the Horizon.
Have a superb Friday.
