Buzz Williams surprised Mississippi State fans booed Andersson Garcia

Buzz Williams is a big fan of transfer guard Andersson Garcia. And the Texas A&M men’s basketball coach isn’t just fond of the Mississippi State transfer for what he does on the court.

Thus, Williams was a bit surprised when, upon making a return to Starkville on Saturday night, the Mississippi State fans showered Garcia with boos. Williams wasn’t critical of fans booing — that’s all part of the deal — but he just can’t imagine booing Garcia.

“I don’t know. I was surprised that they booed him,” Williams said. “That’s not to be critical of the fans, he’s a beautiful human being. In the seven months that I’ve been around him, I’ve become just a huge fan of his spirit. I love the way that he competes in a very egoless way. He is for the team.”

Garcia is a bench player for the Aggies, playing 16 minutes a night. On Saturday against Mississippi State, a 69-62 loss for Texas A&M, Williams was pleased with the play of Garcia, save for one aspect.

“And I thought he played really well. His foul rate was obviously way too high. We would’ve played him more if he wouldn’t have fouled out,” Williams said.

Buzz Williams details Texas A&M’s belief in clutch situations

Texas A&M picked up a big conference win on Tuesday night, outlasting Tennessee at home, 68-63. In a game that came down to the final few possession, Williams was never worried about his team keeping its composure.

After the win, Williams credited his players for their belief in one another and not panicking. It’s just another example why Williams thinks his 2022-23 group is so special.

“I think they have great belief in one another. I think there are genuine relationships that they’ll have for the rest of their life. I think that they’ve been as accepting of our coaching as any group that I’ve been around. I think the accountability of our staff, on a daily basis, has been superb. I think they want to come to work. I think they believe that what we’re trying to do is right for them individually and right for our team. And I think that over time, what’s happened is because they’re so familiar with our identity and the recipe that we have to play with, they hold one another accountable to those things that are not in the stats. In a very sincere way,” Williams said. “And I think in 2023 — I think that’s incredibly rare.”

On Tuesday against Tennessee, it was big man Julius Marble and guard Wade Taylor IV stepping up and doing most of the offensive damage for Texas A&M. Marble scored 21 to go with nine rebounds and Taylor had a game-high 25 points, along with three rebounds, an assist and four steals.

But more than the stat sheet contributions — which seem to come from a different player each night — Williams loves the way this Texas A&M team self-polices each other to do the little things and believes in what the coaching staff is trying to have them do.

“And every game it seems to be somebody different who has a superlative game, relative to the box score. But I think that how we go about things on a daily basis, there’s a genuine belief that we’re doing things for the right reasons and there’s an anticipation, which is what feeds your energy that good things are coming. So when it gets hard, I don’t think they’re caught off guard by that,” Williams said.