Texas A&M won, as expected, in their opener against Alabama State last night, triumphing by a score of 97-66 in the first game of Bucky Ball's sophomore campaign. Though that 31-point margin looks pretty dominant, though, there are some things that the Aggie faithful saw in this one that were definitely worrisome.
This is an Aggie team that is coming into this season as a bit of a piecemeal roster— and, importantly, currently missing one of their biggest pieces in Rylan Griffen, who was recently denied a preliminary injunction. Griffen is a key shooter for the Aggies, and a player that figures to make a big offensive impact because of it.
The Aggies led by 15 at the break, being up on the Hornets 44-29, but Alabama State drew in pretty close in the second half before A&M finally opened things up. The Aggies started hitting their three-pointers, finally, which helped a lot— A&M shot only 20% from beyond the arc in the first half, compared to 46.2% in the second half.
Texas A&M basketball wins big on the scoreboard, but deeper issues lurk
The big thing that was worrisome here, though, was the lack of rebounding from this team. This is a squad that the Aggies should have been able to physically dominate on the glass, but they were outrebounded by one over the course of the game; the Aggies pulled down 43 while the Hornets grabbed 44.
Replacing Rashaun Agee was never going to be easy, but this in particular is a concerning number that has a lot to do with his absence. Despite his shorter stature compared to some of the league's big men, Agee was extremely proficient on the glass, regularly manufacturing second and third-chance opportunities for the Aggies, and ending possessions for opponents on the other side of the court.
Jalen Shelley stepped up the most in this regard, pulling in 12 rebounds, while Jamie Vinson was a bit of a disappointment in his first game, notching only 2 boards in 11 minutes. Cade Phillips needs to do more of this as well; while he led the team in offensive rebounds with 3, he only had 5 overall.
This is a role that Aggie fans hope Josh Irving can grow into as well— while the talented freshman didn't get a lot of minutes in this one, he figures to be a huge presence in the interior when he eventually starts getting into the regular rotation. He played just a shade under 7 and a half minutes in this game and is still looking to find his footing at this level.
Overall, though, this was meant to be one of the easier tests as regards cleaning the glass, and the Aggies simply look to have failed it so far. That is a definite concern going forward; the frontcourts that this Texas A&M team will be dealing with are only going to get bigger and stronger, and you can't do much in the SEC if you're going to be outrebounded in every single game— just watch last year's tape against Florida for proof of that.
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