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00:00Andrew Monaco is our buddy and the voice of the Texas A&M Aggies across the board, and he's got a big game tomorrow in College Station against Tennessee.
00:11We'll talk about that momentarily. Andrew, good to see you. I want to go back to the game at Columbia.
00:18You were able to win at Missouri by three. Alabama wasn't able to do that.
00:24How did you win that game in a tough environment in Columbia?
00:28They were able to play their defense, Scott, and always good to see you. Thanks for having me back.
00:32They were able to play their defense, and I thought, Scott, that they were able to do what they've done almost all season long.
00:39Every opponent's leading scorer has been below their average, and Caleb Grille, who's an outstanding shooter,
00:44the Aggies put a little bit of emphasis on stopping him, which helped a little bit,
00:50but it's their defense which is really part of their identity, and sometimes, Scott, this is what Buzz Williams will say.
00:56Sometimes you just get in a rock fight. Texas A&M will get you in a rock fight.
01:01It seemed to be a little bit of that, and then they made the plays down the stretch,
01:04and Wade Taylor IV made that shot to give them the win, but I would give all the credit to that defense being able to slow down
01:13what is a very good Missouri offense. So you went back after that to College Station,
01:19and you won a couple of games easily against Georgia and an eight-point win over Cal's Hogs of Arkansas,
01:29and in those two home games, you had it going. You're tough to beat in that building, and you've proven that,
01:36and I think that win on the road was really impressive, and then you lose it at Stark Vegas.
01:42Now, they're a lot more deceiving than people think they are. They're capable of beating anybody.
01:47I'm not sure on a neutral court what they're going to be like in the tournament, to be honest with you,
01:53but when you play there, they're brutal. You guys lost there the other night.
01:58Tell me about the two wins at home and then to go to Stark Vegas and lose.
02:02I thought they were big wins at home, Scott, because when you're playing in the SEC,
02:08I don't care if there's a number next to your name or not. It's a gauntlet, and Georgia had some success,
02:14and the Aggies didn't play well in the first half of that game and really turned it on in the second half.
02:18Arkansas is a rival for A&M. They've always had good games,
02:23and really it's like it's playing a combination of Kentucky and Arkansas,
02:27Cal bringing his guys from the Wildcats and some of those holdovers from the Razorbacks.
02:32Another physical team, and that's what they met, I thought, on Tuesday.
02:38Go back to the week, the two wins in the week. How do you respond to victory, Scott?
02:41I think we always ask the question of coaches, how do you respond after a loss?
02:45How do you handle victories? And I thought the Aggies handled that win at Missouri very well, getting those two home wins.
02:52Playing Mississippi State was playing like the Aggies.
02:56Buzz uses mirror opponents when you play in SEC school the second time.
03:00Mississippi State was a mirror opponent in that they played the same way that Texas A&M did,
03:06but I thought the Bulldogs did it much better than A&M played.
03:09I didn't think you had nearly the contributions from all the players,
03:13and A&M has to get contributions from everyone.
03:16I thought Mississippi State was more physical. I thought they were better on the boards.
03:20They forced the Aggies into turnovers. That's open floor, easy buckets.
03:25They have Josh Hubbard, who is just a guard who can just get loose, small, quick, can shoot.
03:31That was a guy the Aggies did not keep under his average.
03:35So you saw the ingredients of all the wins of what Texas A&M has to do.
03:39That's the recipe for success. I thought Tuesday in Mississippi State, the Bulldogs had the better recipe.
03:45That wasn't an A&M team, and they better find it as they take on Tennessee tomorrow.
03:49You know, I watched the game, right? And they were winning at the half, I think, by a point or two.
03:54And then what I saw was the team absolutely lost their shot in the second half.
04:00They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in that second half.
04:04I think they shot under 30%.
04:07So you have bad shots and you have turnovers, right? It plays right into Mississippi State's hands.
04:12And, Scott, you've watched Texas A&M enough that if you're going to miss the shot,
04:16at least go get that offensive rebound. Give yourself a second chance.
04:19Buzz Williams has this team. You have to take predictable shots.
04:23And by that means that, hey, Wade Taylor IV's got to shoot from this spot.
04:27Hayden Heffner from this spot. Zurich Phelps from this spot. They weren't doing that.
04:31There are certain guys who go get the rebound.
04:33There are certain guys who have to get back on defense.
04:36When it's unpredictable, that gets out of balance.
04:39And when they're out of balance, you're exactly right.
04:42So from bad shots to turnovers where you don't get any shot at all and you have to play more defense, I'm with you.
04:48I thought it snowballed. And I thought Mississippi State did an outstanding job of getting that momentum
04:53and never giving it back to Texas A&M.
04:56Well, it's going to be, you know, early tomorrow.
04:58It's like the first big game of the day in college basketball against a tough team.
05:02I think that kid Ziegler's a badass. He's coming off a really impressive performance against Vanderbilt.
05:08They come into your building and it's going to be a hell of a game.
05:12What are you going to have to do against a team that plays great defense
05:15and that has veterans that can put it in the hole?
05:18So you make a great point. I think when we talk about Rick Barnes teams, we focus so much on the offense.
05:23This is the best defensive team in the SEC.
05:26They've got great defense because they've got length. I'm with you.
05:29I think Ziegler is absolutely the engine that makes them run,
05:32whether he is penetrating or he can hit from the outside.
05:36They just got a lot of lengths, don't they, as well with Milicic and Chaz Lanier is one of the great scorers in this league.
05:44The Aggies have to trust that defense. Scott,
05:47what's interesting is you think you have a mismatch with the Aggies on defense,
05:50but bigs will guard guards, so they will switch and you're thinking you have a mismatch.
05:56But the Henry Coleman, the thirds and the Anderson Garcia's and the Solomon Washington's,
06:00they can guard those guards.
06:02It's not as much of a mismatch as you think,
06:05but if Ziegler is penetrating and not just scoring,
06:09but when he penetrates, look, he leads the conference with nearly eight assists a game
06:13and gets everybody else involved that becomes a huge problem
06:18and you can't, Tennessee, if Tennessee gets A&M in rotation on defense,
06:24they're going to get every shot they want.
06:26And what Rick Barnes does so well on offense is watch off the ball.
06:30They have so much movement off the ball, all the screens that they do on the weak side.
06:35That's why they're so difficult to defend. Back to the offense.
06:38Can the offense for Texas A&M set up their defense?
06:42What I mean by that, make Tennessee take it out of the hoop.
06:45Take those predictable shots. Go win the battle of rebounds.
06:49That's always the key. If the Aggies can win that rebounding battle,
06:52they give themselves a chance in every game.
06:54You beat them the last two times you played them in College Station,
06:57you played them, then you got Vandy at home,
06:58then you go to Florida on March 1st,
07:01then you go to Neville on March 4th against Auburn.
07:04That's hell on Earth, that schedule.
07:06That's the SEC, Scott.
07:08Just worry about tomorrow or you'll get a headache, a migraine looking at that schedule.