The Texas A&M men’s basketball team will square off with the A&M Corpus Christi Islanders Thursday night at Reed Arena.
This is the first season with the new reduced 30 second shot clock, which forces teams to play at a faster pace. The new play-scheme has helped A&M record consecutive 100-point games, the first back-to-back triple digit nights in 25 years. While A&M head coach Billy Kennedy feels his players are adjusting well to the new speed, he said they must limit mistakes.
“We haven’t really been tested on running a half court offense,” Kennedy said. “We had such good opportunities to score early that our guys get a little home-run happy, they look for quick things too quickly and our upperclassmen need to be a little more disciplined and get us in offense and make smarter plays.”
Another contributor to the Aggies (2-0) in their first two games is depth, particularly in the front court. This has come from the additions of freshmen Elijah Thomas and Tyler Davis, who will join sophomore Tonny Trocha-Morelos and senior Jalen Jones in defending the paint. Davis, now the starting center for the Aggies, said he likes what his fellow front court starter Trocha-Morelos brings to their offense.
“Tonny’s a great passer so every time we get a chance to go high-low, we always give it a look,” Davis said. “If it’s not there we just keep looking for it later on, [and] I gave him a few passes of my own.”
The depth on this team will also be felt in the back court with the return of senior Danuel House after suffering a season-ending foot injury last season. He said having talent across the board will be key to entering and competing in the NCAA tournament this year.
“As you’ve seen in previous years in the NCAA tournament, the teams that run deep always make it to the final four,” House said. “Coach Kennedy and his staff did a great job of going and getting players so we can be deep so we can have a chance to compete for a national title and an SEC conference title.”
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2-0) enters the game after back-to-back 94 point nights. A major contributor to their 2-0 start has been junior forward Rashawn Thomas, who comes off a 30 point, 12 rebound game last Friday night. His offensive skill and paint presence will be a good test for Davis, who is coming off a double double of his own against SLU and has owned the paint the first two games of the season.
The Aggies will be without sophomore point guard Alex Robinson, who is transferring this year, and Jalen Jones, who is serving the third of his four game suspension. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
