Scouting Report: Texas A&M Aggies

Winning conference games on the road in college basketball is one of the hardest things to do in sports. That has been proven to the masses more than ever over the last few days.

#1 Purdue and #2 Houston each lost on Tuesday night. Then, on Wednesday, #3 Kansas, #5 Tennessee, and #9 Oklahoma all went down. It was absolute carnage across the AP Top 25, especially for teams that were playing away from home. On Saturday afternoon, the #6 Kentucky Wildcats (11-2, 2-0) will be put to the test as they travel to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies (9-6, 0-2). Coach Buzz Williams’ squad is in desperate need of a win. For the ‘Cats, this will be another Quad 1 opportunity, at least for now, as the Aggies are hanging in at #40 in the NET Rankings.

Texas A&M entered the season with a lot of hype after a surprising 15-3 run through the Southeastern Conference a year ago. Wade Taylor IV returned as an All-American candidate and Coach Williams was set to run it back. However, when you take a closer look, last season’s run by the Aggies involved a lot of things breaking their way. They went an amazing 11-2 in games played in the 60s or below. This season, as you would expect, that has already started to even out. The Aggies are 0-3 in games played in the 60s or below plus a 70-66 loss to Houston. It is hard to consistently win games when you can’t put points on the board. Furthermore, it is hard to consistently score when you can’t shoot. That has been this team’s biggest problem.

Shooting 26.0% from three-point range ranks Texas A&M 355th out of 362 Division I teams. Their effective field goal percentage of 45.1% ranks 326th nationally. Whether it be from beyond the arc, two-point range, or at the free throw line the Aggies are below the national average. That is not a recipe for success. They do lead the country in offensive rebounding, gathering 44.6% of their misses, but even that stat is misleading. Similar to Florida, Texas A&M is elite at rebounding their own missed shots, but generally end up missing again. Per Synergy, they are scoring just 0.975 points per possession on offensive rebound putback opportunities. That ranks 314th nationally. All-in-all, the Aggies have really struggled offensively.

As always, we have prepared a full, in-depth scouting report for Kentucky’s next opponent. We will take a deep dive into the Aggies’ personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight the keys to the game for the ‘Cats. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Texas A&M Aggies.

Texas A&M Aggies Personnel

Starters

#4 Wade Taylor IV: 6’0″ 175 lbs, Junior Guard

17.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg

Dynamic point guard. Very aggressive offensively. Shooting a bad percentage this season. 25.4% from 3 on 114 attempts. Still need to respect him. Give a hard contest to all jump shots. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. He is more dangerous as a right-hand driver and playmaker than as a shooter. We want to stay between him and the basket and be ready to aggressively contest jump shots. He loves to shoot the floater from the mid-range. Get your hands up to contest it. Don’t need to guard him 30 feet from the basket. Back up and stay between him and the basket. Very good passer. We are going under and backing up in order to not have to help so much on his drives. Make him finish contested 2s. No right-hand drives. More shots than points for him.

#23 Tyrece Radford: 6’3″ 190 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

12.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.2 apg

Left-handed. He is a non-shooter. Just 9-34 from 3. Much more dangerous as a left-hand driver. NO LEFT-HAND DRIVES!!! Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. We want to stay between him and the basket. You can help off of him when he doesn’t have it. Closeout short to him on the perimeter. Handles the ball a lot when he is in there alongside #4 Taylor IV. Physical at the end of his drives. He is always coming back to his left to finish. Stay down, wall up, and make him finish over you. Do not over-help when he is driving it right. Make him finish contested 2s. Crashes the offensive glass HARD from the perimeter. Averaging 2.4 offensive rebounds per game. Have to get a body on him. Box out! No left-hand drives. No layups for him.

#2 Hayden Hefner: 6’6″ 185 lbs, Senior Guard

8.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3s!!! 73 of 120 shots have been 3s. He is hunting catch-and-shoot 3s. You have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Absolutely no help off of him. Pressure him out on the perimeter. 17 assists, 22 turnovers. Doesn’t really want to handle it. When he does put it on the floor he is generally looking to get into a one or two dribble pull-up. Contest all of his pull-up jump shots. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. Be ready to SWITCH anytime there is too much space and switch out aggressively to take him away from 3. Your only responsibility when guarding him is to take him away from 3. No help off of him. No 3s!!!

#15 Henry Coleman III: 6’8″ 245 lbs, Senior Forward

12.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.2 apg

Strong, physical forward. NON-SHOOTER!!! You do not need to guard him on the perimeter. Closeout short and help clog up the lane. Be ready for him to drive it right at you. Right-hand driver! No right-hand drives!!! They will run a lot of isolation action for him to drive it right from the elbow. Be ready to be physical at the end of his drives. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Always coming back to his right hand to finish. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Likes to face up and then drive it right. Just throw a hand up to contest if he shoots a face-up jumper. ELITE offensive rebounder. Averaging 3.6 offensive rebounder per game. You have to be physical and box him out. Stay between him and the basket. No right-hand drives!

#10 Wildens Leveque: 6’11” 250 lbs, Graduate Student Center

2.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.1 apg

Big, physical 5-man. Only looking to score right at the rim. Primarily in the game to ballscreen, offensive rebound, and defend. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket, but not really looking for it on the roll. Focus on getting the ball stopped and then recover. We would rather make him score it on the roll than give up a drive to the ball handler. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. He won’t look to score if you are between him and the basket. Don’t help up off of him at the rim and give up an easy dunk. Excellent offensive rebounder! Averaging 2 offensive rebounds per game. Box him out!!!

Bench

#0 Jace Carter: 6’6″ 220 lbs, Junior Guard

6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.5 apg

Bigger, backup guard/wing. Very willing shooter. 59 of 97 shots have been 3s, but shooting just 20.3%. You need to be there to contest the obvious catch-and-shoot 3s, but we are more worried about him as a right-hand driver. No right-hand drives! He will look to get all of the way to the rim driving it right and will shoot the pull-up going left. Contest the pull-up jump shots. You can help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out a step or two short, but with your hands up ready to contest. Be ready to be physical at the end of his drives, especially if you are giving up size to him. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Excellent offensive rebounder. He will crash in hard from the perimeter. Averaging 2 offensive rebounds per game. Box out!

#11 Andersson Garcia: 6’7″ 215 lbs, Senior Forward

5.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 apg

Long, athletic, backup forward. ELITE offensive rebounder. He averages 4.2 offensive rebounds per game. You have to find him when the shot goes up and make a conscious effort to make contact and keep him off of the glass. If you keep him from offensive rebounding you’ll neutralize most of his game. Not very aggressive offensively. Right-hand driver. No right-hand drives!!! You can help off of him and close out short to him on the perimeter. Just throw a hand up to contest if he shoots. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Will try to use his quickness to finish around you. No quick drop steps. Will use a lot of shot fakes. Stay down, wall up, and make him finish over you. Primary concern is keeping him off of the offensive glass. BOX OUT!!!

#35 Manny Obaseki: 6’4″ 195 lbs, Junior Guard

5.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.7 apg

Athletic backup guard. Left-handed. Much better and more aggressive as a left-hand driver. No left-hand drives!!! He will handle the point guard duties some when he is in there. Stay underneath that initial “butt screen.” Force him to his right hand. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it on the perimeter and then close out short. We are going under and closing out short to stay between him and the basket. Looking to come back left to finish inside. Likes to go right to set up the spin back to his left hand. Make him finish contested 2s going to his right. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you at the end of his drives. No left-hand drives! No layups for him!

#13 Solomon Washington: 6’7″ 220 lbs, Sophomore Forward

5.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.7 apg

***Has missed the last two games due to injury.*** Long, athletic backup forward. RIGHT-HAND DRIVER!!! No right-hand drives!!! He is just 4-18 from 3-point range, 8-33 in 44 career games. Just throw a hand up if he shoots, but much more worried about him as a right-hand driver. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out short to him on the perimeter. We want to stay between him and the basket at all times. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket some. Looking for it on the short roll so he can catch and drive it right. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. ELITE offensive rebounder. Averaging 2.2 offensive rebounds per game. Find him and box him out! No right-hand drives!

#5 Eli Lawrence: 6’5″ 190 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

2.9 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.2 apg

Left-handed backup guard. Will handle the point guard duties some when he is in there. Very willing shooter, 24 of 47 shots have been 3s, but shooting just 18.5% from 3. Has shot a decent percentage in the past, but just throw a hand up to contest if he shoots to start the game. Better as a left-hand driver. No left-hand drives!!! Stay underneath that initial “butt screen.” Force him to his right hand. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it on the perimeter and then close out short. We are going under and closing out short to stay between him and the basket. Make him finish contested 2s going to his right. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you at the end of his drives. No left-hand drives! No layups for him!

Texas A&M Aggies Offense

Things are not going well on the offensive end of the floor lately for the Texas A&M Aggies. They have yet to break 55 points in Southeastern Conference play which has led to a pair of losses. Despite still ranking 26th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, the Aggies have some truly dreadful shooting statistics. Their 26.0% mark from three-point range is 355th out of 362 Division I teams. They fall below the national averages from two-point range and at the free throw line as well shooting 48.9% and 71.0% respectively. That all adds up to an effective field goal percentage of 45.1% which is 326th nationally. However, they do offensive rebound at a high level getting 44.6% of their misses which is best in the country.

In terms of scheme, Coach Buzz Williams keeps things pretty simple offensively. Almost all of their possessions will start with a high “butt screen” for #4 Taylor IV or #23 Radford. Essentially, one of their two forwards will stand at the top of the key while facing the basket and act as a screener for the ball handler to play off of. That will then flow into some 4-around-1 Motion. When they dial up a set play it will almost exclusively be out of a Horns alignment. They have several different actions out of Horns including a baseline staggered double, an elbow isolation for #15 Coleman III, and more ballscreen actions as well. Overall, the offense is predicated off of the dribble drive which is created by Taylor IV, Radford, or Obaseki.

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This should play into our hands as over-helping has come naturally throughout this season. However, it’ll actually work in our favor against the Texas A&M Aggies. As one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, it’ll pay to sell out on drives and protect the rim. First of all, you need to back up when guarding #4 Taylor IV and stay in front of the ball. There is no reason to be out beyond the three-point line guarding him. Furthermore, you see the LSU defender tighten up to #0 Carter in the corner as the ball gets driven. When guarding a shooter, like #2 Hefner, that would be the right move. Here though you’d rather cut off Taylor IV’s right-hand drive instead of tightening up to a 20.3% three-point shooter. Know your personnel.

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There will be a lot of half-court sets run out of a Horns alignment on Saturday afternoon. One of their go-to action will be this elbow isolation for #15 Coleman III to drive it right. Anytime he gets a catch at the elbow you immediately need to bounce back a step, sit on that right hand, and be ready for him to drive it at you. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. You can bring some help when he is driving it right.

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The Aggies don’t run very much offensively. Therefore, this game is more about knowing the personnel than it is identifying set plays in the half-court. This possession begins with the famous A&M “butt screen” and is reversed through the trail spot setting up a staggered double away. However, #35 Obaseki back cuts which leaves #23 Radford to come off of the single down screen. He is able to curl it and then gets back to his left hand for a layup. There is no need to CHASE him on the perimeter. He is a NON-SHOOTER. Go up through so he can’t curl to the basket like this.

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When you are guarding #2 Hefner your ONLY responsibility is taking him away from 3. You cannot relax or lose concentration when guarding him. From another Horns alignment the Aggies run an Iverson cut over the top while Hefner runs the baseline and catches his defender napping. You need to remain TIGHT to him at all times and CHASE him off of screening action.

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Once again, the Texas A&M Aggies are in their Horns alignment. This time they get into a side Spain action where #4 Taylor IV is able to drive it to his right hand and attack the middle of the floor. Running #2 Hefner underneath the action makes it more difficult because you cannot help off of him. This is a good example of why we would like to hop underneath the ballcreens set for Taylor IV. Also, you can be in towards the midline helping even MORE off of #13 and #0. There is no need to pay much attention to that screening action. This looks like a very difficult shot, but he is good at that long-range floater. Stay between him and the basket and give it a hard contest.

Texas A&M Aggies Defense

Coach Buzz Williams generally gets credit for having a tough, hard-nosed team. While that may be true, it often also carries over to getting credit for having really good defensive teams. That part hasn’t always been as true in College Station. The Texas A&M Aggies rank 65th, nearly 20 spots below Kentucky, in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. Furthermore, during Coach Williams’ tenure, the Aggies have finished ranked 77th, 111th, 30th, and 44th in the metric prior to this season. What Texas A&M does do well though is junk things up a bit and taking opposing offenses out of what they want to do. There will be a lot of extended 1-2-2 token “press” back to their man-to-man. They’ve also mixed in a 2-3 Zone on 12.6% of possessions per Synergy.

There are a few tenants to their half-court man-to-man defense that make it a little different. Both on and off of the ball they are going to switch as much as they can 1-4. Even on a simple cut, they will point switch and pass you on to the next guy. On the perimeter, they work hard to keep the ball on a side and are going to ICE the side ballscreens to force you toward the baseline. Their propensity to switch puts them in position to get out in the passing lanes some, but it isn’t like what we faced last game against Missouri. Much more in the gaps and then will help with two hands and two feet. There will be more opportunities for assists. Drive it hard and play off of two feet. Be ready to shoot when it comes to you on the perimeter.

Keys to the Game

• Contain the dribble drive. No easy right-hand drives for #4 Taylor IV. No easy left-hand drives for #23 Radford. Stay between them and the basket. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. BACK UP when guarding them out on the perimeter. Much more worried about them as drivers than as shooters.
• No 3s for #2 Hefner. He is the only guy on the Texas A&M Aggies roster that you need to treat as a true “shooter.” Absolutely no help off of him. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. No more than 2 made 3s for him. Your goal when guarding him is to take away his ATTEMPTS.
• DEFENSIVE REBOUND. The Aggies are not good enough to beat us with their first shot, but they can beat us with multiple opportunities. 44.6% offensive rebounding percentage leads the country. We need to hold them to 30% or below.
• Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.