Buzz Williams emphasizes need to slow Braden Smith, reveals key to Texas A&M win vs. Purdue
Texas A&M and Purdue are locked in a tight battle Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis. The top-20 matchup has been back-and-forth early on with star players on both teams making big plays.
Aggies coach Buzz Williams was interviewed by CBS late in the first half of Saturday’s game and offered his thoughts on the contest thus far. Williams acknowledged that Texas A&M needs to do a better job on Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Braden Smith from Purdue.
“We’ve gotta figure out how to stop No. 3. Goodness gracious is he good,” Buzz Williams said of Smith, who scored 12 points in the first half.
Williams added that taking care of the basketball will be critical to Texas A&M’s success the rest of the way. The Aggies reached the double-digit turnover mark in the first half with 10. However, they still carried a 38-35 lead into the halftime locker room.
“I think our guys are playing with good poise. Two of our turnovers have been on offensive rebounds. We can’t give them extra possessions,” Buzz Williams said. “It’ll be a possession game. Whoever shoots the most balls and shoots the most free throws will win.”
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Purdue shot 25 shots compared to 22 for Texas A&M in the first half, but the Aggies shot 54.5 percent from the field, compared to 44 percent for the Boilermakers. Texas A&M also shot 50 percent from 3-point range.
“I think the thing that’s hurting us is we had more turnovers in the first half than we did in our entire last game,” Williams said. “Our turnover rates too high. It’s hard to guard them. A top-10 offense in the country. We’re doing a pretty good job of only giving them one shot. We’re not getting lost in all of their action. We’re doing fine there.
“We’ve just got to make sure we get a shot. We’ve got to get a shot so if we miss it we have a chance to get an offensive rebound. We’ve gotta get a shot in hopes that we get fouled. If we just give it to them, they scored 10 points in transition. They’re not a transition team unless you’re just giving it to them.”
Texas A&M and Purdue each entered the game with 8-2 records. This will be a big-time out-of-conference win for whoever comes out on top.