The Texas A&M men’s basketball team dropped its third straight game as the Louisiana State University Tigers overcame an early deficit to take a 58-54 game on Wednesday in Baton Rouge.
What seemed to have the potential for an easy win for A&M as the Aggies held a 28-20 lead with only a few minutes left in the first half. The Tigers went on a run to close the gap to 28-27 before halftime.
Head coach Billy Kennedy said the team just has to improve.
“We just have to get better,” Kennedy said. How we start out the game is the right game plan, we just have to get tougher in a way where we can sustain it. We’re just not tough right now.”
In the second half, the Aggies and Tigers went back and forth until the final minutes of the game. A&M struggled with turnovers in its last game against Alabama and Wednesday was no different The Tigers went to a full court press defense, which resulted in 24 turnovers for the Aggies.
Junior guard Fabyon Harris said the team needs more practice.
“We have to go back and practice and just get better,” Harris said. “As a team we didn’t play well, we need more reps of breaking press [coverage]”.
Knowing the Aggies have lost three straight after a great start to the season has discouraged some students. Senior management major Ryan Lenamon said this is not one of the best teams he’s seen at A&M.
“Our RPI is 55, theirs is 158, but that doesn’t mean much when you look at who both teams have played,” Lenamon said. “We aren’t even close to being a legitimate contender, however we have shown some improvements since Kennedy has taken over.”
The main talking points in the post game press conference by Kennedy were things like how the team was “outcompeted” and how LSU “played with greater effort and urgency”.
The Aggies look to bounce back against Georgia on Saturday and Harris said there is something to look forward to.
“We’re going to keep it together,” Harris said. “We’re just going through some hard times right now. The good days are coming, things are going to get better.”