The Texas A&M basketball team is in a weird spot right now. I’ve gone into depth on this in other articles but in short, A&M has to have a flawless finish to their season to get a chance at the NCAA Tournament. It’s not impossible but it’ll be tough for the Aggies.
That said, A&M will have to play to their strengths and avoid their pitfalls, many of which have shown up throughout the year.
Today, I’m going to be discussing three interesting statistics that the Texas A&M basketball team has gathered over the course of the season, starting with a more exciting one.
Texas A&M Basketball Stat No. 1: Six players with at 1+ SPG
You can say anything you want about this Texas A&M basketball team — you cannot claim that they aren’t a strong defensive squad. The Aggies rank 104th in scoring defense (66.4 PPG), which isn’t the most attractive stat.
That said, their defense is extremely disruptive — they could throw any offense off of its game on any given day. Just look at when they held a top-five Kentucky team to 64 points.
The stat that best exemplifies this is simple — Texas A&M has six players who average at least one steal per game, which leads me to my next stat.
Texas A&M Basketball Stat No. 2: 17+ turnovers forced per game
In my eyes, this is the most impressive Texas A&M basketball stat of the season. As things stand, Buzz Williams’ squad forces 17. This total is even better than it seems at face value; only one other high major school is in the top ten. That team is LSU.
This is something that the Aggies will have to continue to do, as they’re also one of the top teams in the nation in turnover margin, where they rank 12th. A&M plays safe basketball and stingy defense, something they will look to take advantage of in the near future.
Texas A&M Basketball Stat No. 3: Four players shooting over 30% from three
There had to be a bad stat. You knew it was coming.
Unfortunately for Texas A&M, they are one of the worst shooting teams in the entire nation. That’s not me being mean — the Aggies rank 257th in the nation, shooting just 32.2% from beyond the arch.
Specifically, only four players on this team are actually shooting above 30%, which is a terrible tally for any team. If this team wants to make a run, some of these guys are going to have to step up and start knocking down their shots. Whether it’s nerves, mechanics, or poor play-calling, something has to give.