Buzz Williams shares keys to game ahead of pivotal matchup with Georgia

The Texas A&M Aggies and head coach Buzz Williams are in a must win situation on Saturday night against the Georgia Bulldogs. If they hope to keep their slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive, the Aggies must find a way to come out on top, according to ESPN’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Ahead of the pivotal matchup, Williams spoke with the SEC Network crew about the keys to the game vs. the Bulldogs.

Buzz Williams keys to the game vs. Georgia

“I think the biggest rock to me will be can we defend without fouling?” Williams began.

“When Georgia is good is when No. 3, No. 4, and No. 11 are going downhill, getting fouled, and/or creating shots specifically. We’ve got to do a good job of keeping them out of the paint without fouling. And then if we can do that. How can we defend No. 54? Really good on the block. He probably touches it as much from the elbows as he does on the block.

“I think he’s the quarterback of their team after the first 10 seconds of the possession. And then for us arguably the biggest rock is can we do a good job on the offensive glass and create extra shots? And then can we only give them one shot when we’re on defense on the defensive glass?” the Texas A&M head coach continued.

Williams said the Aggies’ defense will be key to fueling their offense.

“I think if we can get stops like every other team, we’re better in transition and a broken floor,” he answered. “We need to do a better job of getting consecutive stops so that we can get in transition. And I also think, most of the time for us, we do a good job of getting fouled when the floor is broken. But I think all of that starts on defense. We need our defense to help our offense.

“And then offensively, if we don’t score early in the clock, we need to make sure we take a predictable shot so that we can get an offensive rebound. That’s arguably what we do best offensively. We miss a lot. But we get a lot of them back. But we need to take predictable shots so that we have a chance to get an offensive rebound and/or get fouled,” Williams finished.

The Aggies were in the NCAA Tournament bracket projections a few weeks ago, but they’ve since lost five straight games. They currently sit at 15-13 overall and 6-9 in the SEC. They’ve got plenty of work to do if they wish to make this year’s field.