Texas A&M (14-5, 5-2 SEC) plays host to Vanderbilt (11-9, 1-6 SEC) Saturday afternoon in search of it’s sixth consecutive victory.
The Aggies are 9-1 at home so far this season. That one loss came after a double-overtime fall to top-ranked Kentucky. Since then the Aggies are undefeated, earning three wins at away venues. A&M is looking to carry the momentum back to College Station and claim six straight.
“Obviously when you win, you get confidence,” said head coach Billy Kennedy. “Winning on the road in three tough environments, that’s the thing that was really good. Auburn had over 7,000 people there, it was a hostile environment. Our guys maintained a good level of poise, and we need to be able to handle the success and see how we can handle all the pats on our backs and make sure it doesn’t go to our head.”
Over the course of the last five games, the Aggies have secured victories against LSU, Tennessee and Auburn. Going into these hostile environments and coming out not only in one piece, but victorious, has had a huge effect on the team’s confidence. The key to these road wins is keeping a solid mentality before, during and after each game.
“I knew we were mentally prepared as a team because our approach was different,” said junior guard Danuel House. “Every player was locked in and was in tune to the game and there wasn’t a lot of chatter. We got a taste of winning and we like the taste of success. The scary thing is we worked so hard to get here, let’s not get too complacent and just let it slip from under our feet. Winning on the road just boosts the crowd for when you get home.”
The 12^th man will be a huge factor in Saturday’s matchup. Thousands of students and fans are expected to show up and cheer their Aggies to another victory. However, A&M has had trouble getting things started in Reed Arena. Kennedy harped on the significance of winning these home competitions.
“It’s definitely an advantage being home,” said Kennedy. “You have got to win your home games. In the game against Kentucky we were here, we had a good crowd, and we played really well. Vanderbilt has a tendency of being able to lull you to sleep at times and then hit you with a big three. You can’t let that frustrate you, and that’s one of my biggest concerns. We got a lot of games left and there’s an advantage with them talking about us, but they’ll stop talking about us real quick if we don’t take care of our own business.”
The team has been sharing the ball, playing good defense and playing together. They plan to keep doing what they are doing and “can’t change anything.” The Aggies seem to put a lot of pressure on themselves during home events and hope they can feel more comfortable in the midst of winning.
“We have to get out to a fast start in the first half, second half, the rebounding boards, loose balls, take charges,” said freshman guard Peyton Allen. “We just got to come out with more energy and play better than them. We’re on the rise, we won five in a row, but it doesn’t stop here. We have got to keep working, we have got to work harder than we have. We know what to do and we’re expecting a good crowd.”