Regrouped Texas A&M Back On a Roll

Well before the season began, it seemed like Texas A&M's year was going to be more about what the Aggies lost than what they had coming back, particularly with the early departure of emerging center Chinemelu Elonu to the pros.

Things only seemed to get worse when the Aggies' best defender, Derrick Roland, went down with a career-ending severely broken leg in December at Washington.

But instead of dwelling on what has been lost, A&M has more than made do with what has remained. And because of that, the Aggies (17-6, 6-3 Big 12) have become one of the most surprising teams in the Big 12 this season. The Aggies are currently on a roll, having won five of their last six, including last Saturday stunning 78-71 home win over then 20th-ranked Baylor.

Suddenly, A&M is looking poised to make its unprecedented fifth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.

"Obviously, [Roland's injury] brought them together," said Texas Tech coach Pat Knight, whose team hosts the Aggies on Saturday. "The same thing happened to them last year, they went through having a couple tough weeks and were able to put six games in row to get them into the tournament.

"They just jelled at the right time and it looks like they are starting to do that now."

It all starts with senior guard Donald Sloan, who has been a constant along with senior power post player Bryan Davis. But the Aggies have also gotten some solid play from players like junior point guard B.J. Holmes, while freshmen Naji Hibbert, Khris Middleton and Ray Turner, along with sophomore David Loubeau have also taken turns stepping up during this latest run.

The team seemed to receive a jolt of confidence after losing at Texas, 72-62, in overtime on Jan. 16 after never trailing the Longhorns in regulation. Third-year coach Mark Turgeon noticed it and seized the moment.

"I just told the kids after we lost to Texas, `I think we are a pretty good team, guys. I think if we can just continue to get better we can go on a roll,'" he said. "I think offensively we are executing better. We are shooting a higher percentage, we are figuring out different ways to score."

And most important, the Aggies are figuring out ways to win in tight situations like against the Bears and on the road at Missouri last week where they squeaked out a 77-74 win. All the while, Turgeon has done it while constantly tinkering with his lineup.

Turgeon also realized he had to go deeper into his bench and rely more heavily on a talented freshman class that is still prone to mistakes.

"I said to myself, 'this is ridiculous. I've got to start playing these young guys whether its five minutes or ten minutes, 11 minutes. I've got to play them,' and I've done that," said Turgeon. "I've put our subs in when we are down six, I put them in when we were down seven against Baylor the other day and they scored seven straight points.

"I've just got to have confidence in our bench that while it's not always going to be perfect, they are going to try hard for us. I think that has been the difference."

But Turgeon doesn't deny that there is still a void with a defensive stopper like Roland being snatched from the lineup. Roland not only took on the opposing team's best scorer but he shared a key leadership role with Sloan.

"It's been a combination of things, but I don't think we are settled to be honest," said Turgeon. "You just don't replace Derrick Roland and what he did defensively and his experience. I think every game I'm sitting over there trying to figure it out, who is going to play well for me today? Sloan is going to play well, Bryan Davis for the most part, B.J. is starting to give me that and Dash was pretty consistent before he got hurt. But it's just close my eyes, flip a coin for whoever else is going to play well for us.

"Fortunately for me it's Naji one game, Khris Middleton, Ray Turner. It's just one guy seems to step up for us. It would be nice if they all started to do it on a more consistent basis. For the most part those three freshmen have gotten a little more consistent the last five or six games and I think that's made us a better basketball team."

The Aggies' latest run, which has propelled them into third place in the Big 12 standings behind No.1 Kansas and Kansas State, has gotten the attention of the coaches in a league that has seemed bent on beating itself up this season.

"It just shows what a competitive and talented league we have," said Baylor coach Scott Drew. "When teams are 106-1 in non-conference home games, you know it's going to be tough on the road.

"I thought A&M, every time we made a run, they had an answer and they came up with big plays down the stretch and we didn't. Credit them with a hard fought win. We are in the best conference in America, the No.1 RPI proves it. We have seven teams ranked in the Top 25. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but when you go on the road, any road win is to be cherished."

That has certainly been the case when teams come into Reed Arena, where the Aggies are 5-0 in league play and 13-0 overall this season. A&M plays three of its final seven regular season games at home against the likes of Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma State.

Turgeon, who can sometimes be brutally honest, has been pleased with how Reed Arena has become a real homecourt advantage after maybe not being that as much in the past.

"It's been a lot of work. Probably the most important thing has been our student support since I moved down here. Actually our crowd support, I was expecting more off of what Billy (former coach Billy Gillespie) had built up in this program and what we've done the last four or five years as a basketball program. But it's more about communication and letting them know how important they are to us."