By Brant Daughtry

Midnights and Eagle Flights

Texas A&M is coached by noted ridiculous dresser and habitual court invader Buzz Williams. Williams is in his 15th year as a head coach, and his 4th at Texas A&M. All jokes about his fashion and coaching style aside, Williams is more than competent as a coach. He’s had eight NCAA Tournament appearances in his 15 seasons, and has made a few deep runs. He’s won 20 games or more in five of the last seven, including a few years at A&M. He won SEC Coach of the Year in 2020 as well.

This year, things are going well for the Aggies. They have no really embarrassing losses, and hold a tie second place in the SEC for the moment. The game on Wednesday will actually determine who firmly holds that spot. In the NET Rankings, they come in at 54th, so they qualify as a Quad 1 team. They come in at 154th in scoring offense with 74.5 a game. Their defense is also middling, but competent, allowing 66 points on average. They hold a 13-6 record, with a 5-1 start in SEC play. Their only loss came in their last game, a nine-point loss to a Kentucky team that seems to be figuring itself out after a tough start.

Players to Watch For:

Guard Wade Taylor IV, #4- Taylor is the lead ball handler for A&M, as well as the leading scorer and assister. He scores 14.8 points a game, and shoots a very good 35% from three. He’s not the tallest guy in the world though, standing at an even 6-foot, so Auburn won’t have to dedicate multiple positions to slowing him down if they play well.

Guard Tyrece Radford, #23- Radford is the ultimate wild card. He averages about 12 points a game, but on most nights, he scores just shy of 10. What makes him dangerous though, is his ability to go off on any given night and score at will. In his last game, he scored 22 against a strong Kentucky team, and 31 earlier in the year. He leads the Aggies in minutes played, and that potential is why.

The schedule has been very favorable to Auburn since the start of conference play. It still is to be fair. Auburn is a more talented team than A&M, and is projected to win this game. But the Aggies are good. They have talented guards, and very capable bigs that average just shy of 30 minutes a game. I hate to keep talking about how important Johni Broome is in these matchups, but it’s truly so paramount. Broome and Wendell Green are the engine that make this team run, Green especially. Auburn has made its run against bad teams. That’s a good thing, good teams will beat bad teams, especially the likes of LSU and South Carolina. But things only get harder from here. This team has built a very nice cushion, but as they get to the grind of the latter half of the schedule, this level of play has to be more consistent. Auburn wants to compete for a championship this year, and they’re on the verge of being good enough. Consistency is the key.