Wednesday, November 27
Las Vegas, Nev.
5:30 PM
Texas A&M
77
vs
73
Creighton
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
Resilient Aggies Rally Past Bluejays for Williams’ 100th Win at Texas A&M
Nov 27, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS – The No. 20 Texas A&M men's basketball team rallied past the No. 21 Creighton Bluejays, 77-73, on Wednesday to give sixth-year head coach Buzz Williams his 100th victory in Aggieland.
Williams hit the century mark as the Aggies logged their second win of November against an AP Top 25 foe. The Aggies also took down then-No. 21 Ohio State on Nov. 15. It's the first time the Aggies have logged two top 25 victories in the opening month of the season since 2017 when they beat No. 11 West Virginia and No. 10 USC.
Williams joins Tennessee's Rick Barnes as the only coaches with at least 100 wins at three different NCAA power conference schools – 139 at Marquette from 2008-14, 100 at Virginia Tech from 2014-19 and 100 at Texas A&M from 2019 to present. Note: Kelvin Sampson has also done it at three power conference schools - Washington State/Pac 10, Oklahoma/Big 12 and Houston/Big 12 – but Houston is only in its second year in the Big 12. Also of note, Williams won his 353rd career win, which matches the win total of longtime staffer Dale Layer, who won 353 games at Queens, Colorado State and Liberty.
The Aggies showed tremendous resolve to take down the Blue Jays, who jumped to an early 8-0 lead and controlled the first half as they took a four-point lead into halftime at 31-27. The Aggies came out firing in the second stanza and grabbed their first lead of the game less than three minutes into the second half. It was the first of 11 lead changes before the Aggies took the lead for good with :35 seconds remaining.
Creighton's 13th 3-pointer gave the Blue Jay their final lead of the night with :58 seconds before Solomon Washington was fouled as he battled through contact on layup. His successful free throw gave the Aggies a two-point advantage at 72-70. Henry Coleman III, who was in the starting lineup for the first time since last February, pushed the lead to three with a dunk and added a free throw to make it a two-possession game with nine seconds left. A steal and a layup by Washington put the game out of reach before a meaningless pair of free throws from the Bluejays.
Coleman and Washington keyed the second half as they both hit double-digit points in the second half while combining for 11 rebounds. Coleman hit 6-of-6 shots and grabbed six boards, while Washington chipped in 10 points with five rebounds.
For the game, Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 18 points while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Joining him in double figures were Coleman with 17 and Washington and Andersson Garcia with 10. Coleman led the Aggies with nine rebounds, including four off the offensive glass.
Once again, the Aggies were dominant on the glass as they out-rebounded the Jays, 48-37, and had a commanding 21-11 advantage on the offensive glass. The Aggies' dominance on the offensive glass led to a 23 second-chance points and a whopping 42 points in the paint. Another key to the victory was the Aggies' low turnover rate as they matched a season low with just 10 turnovers on 71 possessions (14.1%), while forcing 15 from Creighton.
The Aggies close out play at the Players Era Festival in the fifth-place game vs. Rutgers at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday on TruTV.
(transcript courtesy ASAP Sports)
Q. What did you make of the way your team finished, especially in the final seconds of a close game like that?
BUZZ WILLIAMS: Creighton, they just put so much stress on you offensively. A lot of it has to do with your decision on how you're going to guard 11. I think they're a completely different team with 1. And analytically they're fast. And you watch them and you think fast means in the full court. They're just really fast in the half court. And 2, 1, 5 is a one-man fast break. 11 is a First-Team All-American in many respects. And then 23's been playing really well. So, I do think down the stretch we had really good offensive possessions. And then in the middle of the half I thought we were fouling too much. And then I thought we stopped fouling and were able to get consecutive stops and then make good decisions on the other end.
Q. You said the key was stopping Kalkbrenner, 11. I think he only had one basket in the first half, couple in the second half. How did you want to approach defending him?
BUZZ WILLIAMS: So we didn't explain too much to the guys because we didn't know the health of 1. And so we just probably kind of balanced the two -- like, are we going to play the team that played last night or are we going to play the team with 1. I thought our guys handled all of that the right way. I think their play catalog is a little different when 1's playing, rightfully so. I think 2 is probably more comfortable off the ball. He made big shot after big shot tonight. It's hard to win when a team scores 24 more points than you from 3. So you have to play with a low turnover rate to have a chance. I thought we did a really good job on the offensive glass to be able to shoot more balls than they did. But I don't think you can guard 11 at the rim one-on-one. So, so much of what Coach McDermott does, I think he's a savant offensively and probably doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he's constantly manipulating the low man on your second defender guarding 11. So I know statistically this year they haven't shot it from 3 at the same level as they have in the past. But when they had 1, that's different than the back end of Nebraska and yesterday's game.
Q. The way your team finished, what's it say about the resilience in a moment like that?
WADE TAYLOR IV: Coach always talked to us all year about being grimy because we're at our best when we're grimy. It's a tug-of-war match. So for us to come out there and compete as hard as we did because Creighton is an amazing team, shout-out to them, just shows how much we believe in each other and how much we want to make sure when it get tight that we continue to make sure we pull it out.
Q. Henry, how did you guys approach guarding Kalkbrenner?
HENRY COLEMAN III: An unbelievable player. Probably one of the best bigs in the country. Amazing shot blocker, finishes really well around the rim. For us, we just wanted to have crazy ball pressure. I thought the guards were unbelievable at that tonight. And just being physical with him. He's an unbelievable player. But when we were physical with him, I think it kind of gave them problems. I think just being physical, having great ball pressure really helped us a ton tonight.
Q. Has there been much talk about your guys' starts in the last couple years, November, December haven't been the strongest and you've got better as the season goes along. Has there been any discussions about that? And why do you guys think that hadn't started as well as you finished?
WADE TAYLOR IV: Yeah, we definitely have talked about it because of course me and him has been through all of it -- the eight-game losing streak, the five-game losing streaks. We just try to make sure we can avoid that as much as we possibly can. Typically normally we get comfortable and we kind of don't have that same edge at the beginning as we do in the end, we kind of get complacent. But we just try to make sure that we keep that edge throughout the whole year because that's who we are. And I think that we keep that the whole year then at the end of the year may have a different outcome than it has been since we've been here.
Q. Wade, seems like when the game gets physical like that you all are even more comfortable. How does that help the team in these moments?
WADE TAYLOR IV: It starts with how we practice. We have two refs in practice that are, don't tell them I said this, but are unbelievably terrible. One is a grad assistant and one is an assistant coach. And they don't call anything. We just go about it every day being physical because that's who we want to be; we want to be the most physical team. Once teams continue to be physical with us, we kind of gravitate to it. That just makes us play harder. I think that starts with how hard we play in practice because how you play is how you practice.
Q. How many of these events have you guys been in your careers, do you think? You've both been around for a while.
HENRY COLEMAN III: Every single year. Yes.
Q. Combined like seven or something? What's this one like compared to the other ones you've been to?
HENRY COLEMAN III: I think NIL is awesome. I think we're super fortunate. I think how it's been run has been unbelievable. I just think when you're able to pay players and when you're able to use the NIL for a good reason and have people come out here and crazy competition, Hall of Fame coaches, All-American players, this is the best place to be right now. I know there's Maui and stuff going on, but I think right here is the best place to be. We're fortunate and blessed to be here.
Q. Is it because of the NIL -- obviously that's a difference maker. Is there anything else that would lend you to say it's the best?
HENRY COLEMAN III: Just how it's run, the competition right now. You have Hall of Fame coaches in the building right now. You have all of American players. Wade's one of them. And many on the other team. I think the competition -- we talked about it amongst the team. If there was no money involved we'd still play in this tournament just because we love the competition and love playing the best and the best. Just to have it in one sitting is a blessing.
Q. When you think about AAU ball, many players, if not most of you all, come to Vegas before you get to college. When you get to college and hear that you're going to have a tournament in Vegas at the next level, does even add more to that enticement?
WADE TAYLOR IV: I was definitely excited to come back to Vegas. I came my freshman year for the Maui tournament. Vegas AAU, it's amazing. To come to Vegas as a collegiate player is great. I'm excited we were able to participate in the tournament, just being in Vegas because Vegas is always a good time.
Williams hit the century mark as the Aggies logged their second win of November against an AP Top 25 foe. The Aggies also took down then-No. 21 Ohio State on Nov. 15. It's the first time the Aggies have logged two top 25 victories in the opening month of the season since 2017 when they beat No. 11 West Virginia and No. 10 USC.
Williams joins Tennessee's Rick Barnes as the only coaches with at least 100 wins at three different NCAA power conference schools – 139 at Marquette from 2008-14, 100 at Virginia Tech from 2014-19 and 100 at Texas A&M from 2019 to present. Note: Kelvin Sampson has also done it at three power conference schools - Washington State/Pac 10, Oklahoma/Big 12 and Houston/Big 12 – but Houston is only in its second year in the Big 12. Also of note, Williams won his 353rd career win, which matches the win total of longtime staffer Dale Layer, who won 353 games at Queens, Colorado State and Liberty.
Dats a hundred ?? @TeamCoachBuzz #GigEm pic.twitter.com/baCMQdaL4S
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) November 28, 2024
The Aggies showed tremendous resolve to take down the Blue Jays, who jumped to an early 8-0 lead and controlled the first half as they took a four-point lead into halftime at 31-27. The Aggies came out firing in the second stanza and grabbed their first lead of the game less than three minutes into the second half. It was the first of 11 lead changes before the Aggies took the lead for good with :35 seconds remaining.
Creighton's 13th 3-pointer gave the Blue Jay their final lead of the night with :58 seconds before Solomon Washington was fouled as he battled through contact on layup. His successful free throw gave the Aggies a two-point advantage at 72-70. Henry Coleman III, who was in the starting lineup for the first time since last February, pushed the lead to three with a dunk and added a free throw to make it a two-possession game with nine seconds left. A steal and a layup by Washington put the game out of reach before a meaningless pair of free throws from the Bluejays.
Coleman and Washington keyed the second half as they both hit double-digit points in the second half while combining for 11 rebounds. Coleman hit 6-of-6 shots and grabbed six boards, while Washington chipped in 10 points with five rebounds.
For the game, Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 18 points while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Joining him in double figures were Coleman with 17 and Washington and Andersson Garcia with 10. Coleman led the Aggies with nine rebounds, including four off the offensive glass.
Once again, the Aggies were dominant on the glass as they out-rebounded the Jays, 48-37, and had a commanding 21-11 advantage on the offensive glass. The Aggies' dominance on the offensive glass led to a 23 second-chance points and a whopping 42 points in the paint. Another key to the victory was the Aggies' low turnover rate as they matched a season low with just 10 turnovers on 71 possessions (14.1%), while forcing 15 from Creighton.
The Aggies close out play at the Players Era Festival in the fifth-place game vs. Rutgers at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday on TruTV.
Postgame Quotes: Buzz Williams
(transcript courtesy ASAP Sports)Q. What did you make of the way your team finished, especially in the final seconds of a close game like that?
BUZZ WILLIAMS: Creighton, they just put so much stress on you offensively. A lot of it has to do with your decision on how you're going to guard 11. I think they're a completely different team with 1. And analytically they're fast. And you watch them and you think fast means in the full court. They're just really fast in the half court. And 2, 1, 5 is a one-man fast break. 11 is a First-Team All-American in many respects. And then 23's been playing really well. So, I do think down the stretch we had really good offensive possessions. And then in the middle of the half I thought we were fouling too much. And then I thought we stopped fouling and were able to get consecutive stops and then make good decisions on the other end.
Q. You said the key was stopping Kalkbrenner, 11. I think he only had one basket in the first half, couple in the second half. How did you want to approach defending him?
BUZZ WILLIAMS: So we didn't explain too much to the guys because we didn't know the health of 1. And so we just probably kind of balanced the two -- like, are we going to play the team that played last night or are we going to play the team with 1. I thought our guys handled all of that the right way. I think their play catalog is a little different when 1's playing, rightfully so. I think 2 is probably more comfortable off the ball. He made big shot after big shot tonight. It's hard to win when a team scores 24 more points than you from 3. So you have to play with a low turnover rate to have a chance. I thought we did a really good job on the offensive glass to be able to shoot more balls than they did. But I don't think you can guard 11 at the rim one-on-one. So, so much of what Coach McDermott does, I think he's a savant offensively and probably doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he's constantly manipulating the low man on your second defender guarding 11. So I know statistically this year they haven't shot it from 3 at the same level as they have in the past. But when they had 1, that's different than the back end of Nebraska and yesterday's game.
Postgame Quotes: Wade Taylor IV, Henry Coleman
Q. The way your team finished, what's it say about the resilience in a moment like that?
WADE TAYLOR IV: Coach always talked to us all year about being grimy because we're at our best when we're grimy. It's a tug-of-war match. So for us to come out there and compete as hard as we did because Creighton is an amazing team, shout-out to them, just shows how much we believe in each other and how much we want to make sure when it get tight that we continue to make sure we pull it out.
Q. Henry, how did you guys approach guarding Kalkbrenner?
HENRY COLEMAN III: An unbelievable player. Probably one of the best bigs in the country. Amazing shot blocker, finishes really well around the rim. For us, we just wanted to have crazy ball pressure. I thought the guards were unbelievable at that tonight. And just being physical with him. He's an unbelievable player. But when we were physical with him, I think it kind of gave them problems. I think just being physical, having great ball pressure really helped us a ton tonight.
Q. Has there been much talk about your guys' starts in the last couple years, November, December haven't been the strongest and you've got better as the season goes along. Has there been any discussions about that? And why do you guys think that hadn't started as well as you finished?
WADE TAYLOR IV: Yeah, we definitely have talked about it because of course me and him has been through all of it -- the eight-game losing streak, the five-game losing streaks. We just try to make sure we can avoid that as much as we possibly can. Typically normally we get comfortable and we kind of don't have that same edge at the beginning as we do in the end, we kind of get complacent. But we just try to make sure that we keep that edge throughout the whole year because that's who we are. And I think that we keep that the whole year then at the end of the year may have a different outcome than it has been since we've been here.
Q. Wade, seems like when the game gets physical like that you all are even more comfortable. How does that help the team in these moments?
WADE TAYLOR IV: It starts with how we practice. We have two refs in practice that are, don't tell them I said this, but are unbelievably terrible. One is a grad assistant and one is an assistant coach. And they don't call anything. We just go about it every day being physical because that's who we want to be; we want to be the most physical team. Once teams continue to be physical with us, we kind of gravitate to it. That just makes us play harder. I think that starts with how hard we play in practice because how you play is how you practice.
Q. How many of these events have you guys been in your careers, do you think? You've both been around for a while.
HENRY COLEMAN III: Every single year. Yes.
Q. Combined like seven or something? What's this one like compared to the other ones you've been to?
HENRY COLEMAN III: I think NIL is awesome. I think we're super fortunate. I think how it's been run has been unbelievable. I just think when you're able to pay players and when you're able to use the NIL for a good reason and have people come out here and crazy competition, Hall of Fame coaches, All-American players, this is the best place to be right now. I know there's Maui and stuff going on, but I think right here is the best place to be. We're fortunate and blessed to be here.
Q. Is it because of the NIL -- obviously that's a difference maker. Is there anything else that would lend you to say it's the best?
HENRY COLEMAN III: Just how it's run, the competition right now. You have Hall of Fame coaches in the building right now. You have all of American players. Wade's one of them. And many on the other team. I think the competition -- we talked about it amongst the team. If there was no money involved we'd still play in this tournament just because we love the competition and love playing the best and the best. Just to have it in one sitting is a blessing.
Q. When you think about AAU ball, many players, if not most of you all, come to Vegas before you get to college. When you get to college and hear that you're going to have a tournament in Vegas at the next level, does even add more to that enticement?
WADE TAYLOR IV: I was definitely excited to come back to Vegas. I came my freshman year for the Maui tournament. Vegas AAU, it's amazing. To come to Vegas as a collegiate player is great. I'm excited we were able to participate in the tournament, just being in Vegas because Vegas is always a good time.
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