SEC basketball clash preview

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COLLEGE STATION – When asked Monday what Kentucky does well, Texas A&M basketball head coach Buzz Williams kept it simple: “Everything.”

“Really enjoyed studying them. Definitely the most beautiful offense in the country,” Williams continued.

Aggies no. 11 (13-3, 2-1) travels to Lexington to take on a Wildcats (13-3, 2-1) on Tuesday team that has five players averaging double-digit points and a sixth just missing out and scored 9.9 a game.

It’s another daunting task for Williams and his crew, which has opened SEC play 2-1. A hard-fought loss to Alabama on Saturday is still fresh in their minds, but they won’t have time to dwell on it as they prepare for the No. 9 in Kentucky.

“Just how they play very uniquely, different from any team in the SEC in the time we’ve been here, easy to see why coach (Mark Pope) has had such success and such notoriety with this offense,” Williams said .

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The Wildcats are second in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 89.2 points per possession. match. They have a trio of guards in Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler and former Aggie Jaxson Robinson who have averaged 15.6, 13.9 and 12.6, respectively.

“I don’t know if we know how to slow it down or stop it; not many teams have had that much success with it,” Williams said. “Not only are they talented and skilled, it’s easy to figure out. But their style of play is very distinct and you have to make a lot of decisions about how you’re going to try to slow them down.”

Tuesday’s game is just another in the long, grueling schedule A&M will endure. The Aggies enter the game having played 10 Quad 1 and Quad 2 matchups, going 7-3 in those outings. A trip to Kentucky gives them another chance to fatten their resume with a win.

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Aggies lean on faith and intangibles to find success

Every time Buzz Williams has spoken to the media this season, he’s made it a point to say he doesn’t think his team is the best or most talented in the country. He knows his team has flaws. However, it’s the culture he’s helped build and the character of the players he’s brought in that has the Aggies among the top teams in the country this season.

“The belief they have in each other, the belief they have in what we’re doing. I think their spirit — which is an intangible — their spirit of togetherness, of fight, of faith, whatever it is, would be , which I would say has had more of an impact than all the volatility,” Williams said.

The volatility Williams is talking about is welcoming the Texas Longhorns into a rivalry renewed to open SEC play, followed by going down by 18 points to Oklahoma without star guard Wade Taylor IV on the floor, then falling 15 to the No. 5 in Alabama Crimson Tide and then came within a missed 3-point attempt to tie the game with 41 seconds left.

Taylor IV, the team’s leading scorer, has missed the last few games while nursing an undisclosed injury.

“There’s going to be volatility tomorrow, there’s going to be some two or three outlier stats tomorrow that will be talked about after the game and when I see you guys on Friday, like it’s just going to keep adding layers to the volatility,” Williams said. “But I think the spirit and the fight and the togetherness and the dabs and the hugs and the smiles and the eye contact and the body language, that’s kind of hard to find in 2025.”

Ten of Texas A&M’s 15 players are upperclassmen, and seven have been with the program for more than two years. That experience and camaraderie, in today’s climate of college athletics, makes Williams and the Aggies feel they have an advantage.

Texas A&M plays at Kentucky at 6 p.m. Tuesday, televised on ESPN2.

Reach Texas A&M Beat Reporter Tony Catalina via email at [email protected]. Follow the American statesman further Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all our best content with this amazing offer.