What is Penn State facing against Texas A&M in NCAA Tournament? Scouting the Aggies

Upon first learning of Penn State basketball’s NCAA Tournament opening-round matchup with Texas A&M, Micah Shrewsberry saw the same thing as everyone else. Despite their inconsistencies in November and December, the Aggies ripped through the SEC with a 15-3 record, reached the conference tournament final, and were playing as one of the nation’s best teams. 

Pairing dynamic guards with physical, aggressive forwards, the tape confirmed the Aggies’ resume.

“Texas A&M is a really, really good opponent. Getting a chance now to go through their tape for a few days and prepare for them, (they’re) just a talented team,” Shrewsberry said. “Their guards are special. They are elite and attacking the rim, being able to score, being able to get to the free throw line. And (they’re a) really, really, really good rebounding team, one of the best in the country, if not the best in the country.

“We’re going to have to hold our own on the offensive glass and keep these guys off the free throw line. But, it’s going to be a great challenge and we’re looking forward to it.”

‘Electric’ guards

That challenge begins with Wade Taylor IV in the backcourt for the Aggies. Texas A&M’s leading scorer, averaging 16.5 points per game, Taylor also is the top distributor with 136 assists. 

Playing alongside Tyrece Radford, the Aggies boast two double-figure scorers in the backcourt, with Radford also among the team leaders in rebounds. 

“They’re a great team. Have two really good guards, high scoring. They rebound the ball well and like to play in the paint,” said Cam Wynter. “I think after watching film we figured out that they’re a very good team, obviously to have a run like that in the SEC you have to be good.”

Neither is a volume shooter from deep, Wade representing the most 3-pointers attempted this season on the team, making 78 of 212 shots (36.8 percent). Radford hit on just 39 of 123 attempts (31.7 percent). Contrasted with Penn State, the Nittany Lions enter the NCAA Tournament with Andrew Funk, Seth Lundy, and Myles Dread combining to make more 3-pointers (245 of 619) than Texas A&M has as a team (207 of 632).

Coming off the bench, Hayden Heffner is A&M’s shooter. He’s only taken 86 shots this season and averaged 11 minutes, but 53 of those 86 shots have been 3-pointers. Andre Gordon is roughly the same, with 45 of his 84 shots this season combing from beyond the arc. No one shoots it particularly well outside of Taylor. All five of Penn State’s leading scorers have connected at the same or a better percentage than him.

As described by Shrewsberry earlier this week, though, that’s not Texas A&M’s game.

“Their guards are electric. Wade Taylor is as good of a guard as we’ve seen all year. He’s got speed, he can shoot it, he gets to the basket,” Shrewsberry said. “Tyrece Radford, the same way. Left-handed, he really attacks, he attacks. (Dexter) Dennis is another transfer that can shoot it.”

Offensive rebounding attack and Penn State answer

Notably, Radford is particularly aggressive in collecting second looks for the Aggies. His 63 offensive rebounds are third on the team behind Henry Coleman III (76) and bench man Andersson Garcia (66).

Providing a comp for the Aggies in the Big Ten, Jalen Pickett pointed toward Illinois (a team Penn State beat three times this season) for their shared rebounding philosophies and physicality. 

“They send a lot of people to the glass, they play fast in transition, and they have really good guards,” Pickett said. “For us, it’s going to be hard to contain their guards and keep them off the boards and allow us to play offense at a faster pace once we grab those rebounds and go.”

Texas A&M is sixth nationally this season for offensive rebounding percentage, collecting 35.7 percent of its missed shots on the glass. Penn State is 359th (of 363 nationally), with a rate of 17.3 percent. Importantly, Penn State is 73rd nationally for defensive rebounding percentage, though, checking in at 76.1 percent against Texas A&M’s 71.9 percent, which is 255th.

Free throws galore, not for Penn State

In 34 games this season, Texas A&M has shot 860 free throws. The Aggies have made 653 of them. That’s more than 25 percent of their 2,490 points this season. It is the reason why they’re the nation-leaders both for free throws attempted (25.3 per game) and made (19.2). 

Wade and Radford are a huge part of that equation with Wade (168 of 192) leading both FTM and FTA and Radford second in the same categories (147 of 184). 

But the Aggies’ approach to getting to the free throw line isn’t limited to its guards. Wing Dexter Dennis is the lone starter to not eclipse 100 free throws attempted this season. Forwards Coleman and Julius Marble have hit 80 of 113 and 64 of 112, respectively. 

For comparison, Penn State is among the lowest teams for free throws attempted (12.2 per game) and made (9.0). At 110 free throws, Jalen Pickett leads all Nittany Lions for attempts. Seth Lundy, at 105 attempts, is the only other player eclipsing the century mark. 

Forwards

Critically, A&M’s aggressive approach to the offensive end of the floor is crucial to that recipe. It’s a combination sparked by the quality of the Aggies’ guards, then bolstered by their forwards. 

“The SEC plays a lot faster. I would say they’re more athletic. They have a lot of long and athletic guards that can score the ball,” Lundy said. “I feel like the Big Ten has a lot of the best bigs in the country. And I feel like the SEC has a lot of really good guards and wing players.”

Julius Marble (6-9, 245 pounds) and Henry Coleman III (6-8, 245) are no joke on both ends of the floor. Coleman leads the team in rebounds with 194 on the season while Marble averages 4.2. They both score, too, on the floor and at the free-throw line. Rounding out a starting five all averaging 9.2 points or better, Coleman and Marble have each done so hitting the same 53.2 percent of their shots.

“I talked about their rebounding, their physicality. (Marble) is their starting five-man. He can score it with either hand around the basket. He can make jump shots out to 15 to 17 feet. Really good player, Shrewsberry said. “Coleman is one of the most physically imposing guys that we’ve played against. And then these dudes go to the glass. They just send a bunch of guys in and they all go the glass. They’re great at attacking the rim. They get to the free throw line a lot and then they rebound like madmen.”

Insisting that it’s important to finish on the glass, Shrewsberry said that the recent stretch of games against Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, and Purdue offered plenty of relevant prep for what it’ll take. 

Outside of Purdue (-7), Penn State won the rebounding battle in its three Big Ten Tournament games.