Texas A&M Basketball: Team MVP from win over North Carolina

Texas A&M basketball got a massive win over defending national champion North Carolina to advance to the Sweet 16, thanks in large part to this player.

There were some experts high on the Aggies, but I don’t think any of them expected Texas A&M basketball to dismantle North Carolina, the defending national champs and the much higher seed, the way that they did. The final score was 86-65 and it was about that much of a deficit the entire second half.

Billy Kennedy’s squad had their entire arsenal working offensively. North Carolina is outside the top 100 in defensive efficiency and it showed. A&M was able to take advantage of their size in the front court and exploited it to perfection.

Tyler Davis led the way early, putting on move after move in the low post. He effectively slowed the game down after both teams came out of the gates firing and the Aggies fell into a 20-13 hole.

Texas A&M went on a 29-8 run to end the half up 42-18 — Davis scored 13 points in that run.

Other players played key roles in the win as well. Admon Gilder scored 12 points and helped keep Joel Berry II out of rhythm. TJ Starks had a big second half and led all Aggies with 21 points and five assists. DJ Hogg got going and put in 14 points and had eight rebounds.

However, the MVP of this game was definitely Robert Williams.

North Carolina is the top offensive rebounding team in the country this season. Even when their three point shots aren’t falling — and they were an abysmal 6-for-31 in this game, most of those six coming when the game was out of hand — they do a great job of cleaning up the misses.

Williams was a monster on the defensive boards, hauling in 12 rebounds on that end and several of them were max-effort. He was flying around and controlled the glass like a man with his ridiculous athleticism should.

He even got called for traveling twice on rebounds because he went so hard after them he couldn’t control himself and fell when he came down with the ball.

Williams also did this:

He set the tone early and was altering North Carolina shots in the lane all game. It almost looked like they were scared to go to the hole after this block.

Next: Aggies first to send both teams to Sweet 16

Williams needs to give this kind of effort in every game. Not only is it critical if the Aggies hope to move on to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history, but the NBA scouts need to see him utilize the strengths that he will use at the next level. Here’s to hoping this Williams shows up every night from here on.

Jeff Shull is a Site Expert for the Gig Em Gazette on FanSided. Follow him on Twitter, and be sure to follow the Gig Em Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.