For the first time in his career of 122 games, graduate guard Wade Taylor IV was unavailable for Texas A&M men’s basketball.
That, combined with holiday hoops opponent Houston Chrisitan, meant the Aggies’ box score looked a little different in their 77-45 win over the visiting Huskies at Reed Arena on Friday.
“We’re very reliant on his talent, for sure, but his leadership is as good as I’ve been around in my career,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “And so even practicing without him was different. So there was a lot of valuable reps for some guys that had different responsibilities today, and hopefully that’ll come to light at some point, I anticipate.”
Chief among the changes was the rise of graduate G Hayden Hefner. The Nederland native led all scorers with 19 points — his season-high, nearly matching his career high of 24 points that also came against HCU in December of last year.
“I feel like we’re just gonna build upon this,” Hefner said. “I got Wade on the bench talking to me the whole time, just giving me words of encouragement. Guys like [Obaseki], Zhuric, Henry. You hear that from your teammates, and then you compound that with what your coaches are telling you.”
Senior G Manny Obaseki, who replaced Taylor in the starting lineup, effectively stepped into his role to the tune of 13 points and four assists.
“Just being consistent with my work,” Obaseki said. “Keep showing up, keep being there for not just for myself, but for my teammates. Let them know that I’m there, and I’ll always be here.”
The game presented an opportunity for some new faces to make their mark in the box score. Sophomore G Jaelyn Lee had his first points of the season, and freshman forward Chris McDermott had two points and six rebounds off the bench in his third game for the Aggies.
“Those guys are really important to our program and are a part of what we do every day in practice,” Williams said. “And so for them to be able to play, they’ve earned that. But also, in case something undisclosed or something we don’t want to happen does transpire, at least they have had some game pressure reps, which I think will be healthy.”
But that’s not to say that everything about the matchup was unfamiliar. The Aggies, who rank first in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, were able to grab plenty of boards on both ends to the tune of a 52-25 rebounding margin and 20-8 margin on the offensive glass.
On that front, A&M was led by junior F Solomon Washington, whose 11 rebounds made him the only player on the floor with double-digit boards.
“We’ve turned rebounding into special teams, and we give it the same priority as we do offense and defense,” Williams said. “We’ve begun to study it at such a level that it’s become part of the fabric of our program.”
A&M’s defense — the sixth-most efficient in the country, according to KenPom.com — produced another stellar performance against HCU.
The Huskies shot 31% from the field for the game and a mere 10% from beyond the arc. The Aggies forced nine steals in addition to their effort on the defensive glass.
“This was statistically the best we’ve been from a defensive rebounding standpoint,” Williams said. “Our defense is ranked sixth entering today’s game, but our defensive rebounding is among the worst in the country. And so if we can shore that up somewhat, I think it’ll help our defense …. Today, we had 80% of the balls they missed.”
Next, A&M heads into a holiday break before rounding out non-conference play with a matchup against Abilene Christian on Dec. 28.
“I’m ready to eat pizza and ice cream and queso and a bowl of cereal, whatever I want,” Williams said. “I might actually sleep normal person hours. I will take a nap. I’ll read a lot. I’ll watch this game, but I’m not going to be in a rush.”
