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Team of the Week: Texas A&M Aggies

SEC Basketball Tournament - Second Round

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 09: Tyler Davis #34 of the Texas A&M Aggies dribbles the ball against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 9, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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Without a doubt, the most surprising result from the first weekend of college basketball was No. 25 Texas A&M absolutely demolishing No. 11 West Virginia, 88-65, in Germany.

The Aggies were down 23-10 in the first ten minutes of the game. They outscored Press Virginia by 36 points the rest of the way, a number that came down after the Mountaineers were able to make the score more respectable in the final minutes. What makes the final even more impressive is that Texas A&M was not only playing without their lottery pick center Robert Big Bob Williams, they were without J.J. Caldwell, their redshirt freshman point guard who was expected to start.

And they were going up against Press Virginia?

And they were down 13 points and still won by 23?

What?

To be frank, some of that result has to do with the fact that West Virginia, who was without Esa Ahmad, is not who we thought they were entering the season. I get that. But the statement that the Aggies made cannot be overlooked here. Tyler Davis was absolutely dominant. Admon Gilder looked like an all-SEC guard. D.J. Hogg’s jump shot, which is a picturesque stroke that doesn’t go in as much as it should, was falling. The Aggies cleaned the glass and protected the ball and just never left WVU get into their rhythm.

I had Texas A&M winning the SEC before the season began, and four days into it, it looks like that prediction might end up coming to fruition.

THEY WERE GOOD, TOO


  • Indiana State: The Sycamores went into Assembly Hall on Friday night and dropped a hammer on the Hoosiers. They made 17 threes. They put up 54 points in the first half. They won by 21 points. And they did all of this as new Indiana head coach Archie Miller was making his debut in Bloomington. Not bad for a bunch of Hoosier-state kids that didn’t get recruited by the Hoosiers.
  • Georgia Southern: The Sun Belt favorites and the team with arguably the best back court is all of mid-major hoops, Georgia Southern went into Winston-Salem on Friday night and knocked off Wake Forest, 85-83.
  • Davidson: How about this for a good shooting night: Davidson went 26-for-53 from three on Friday night as they knocked off Charleston Southern, 110-62. They made more threes than the Buccaneers did field goals. They had five players make at least three threes and three players make at least five threes.
  • Lamar: Winning a season-opener on the road is never easy to do, and Lamar did just that by going into Tulsa and knocking off the Golden Hurricane, 74-67. Buyer’s remorse strikes again.
  • UC Riverside: The Wyking Jones era did not get off to a rousing start for California, as they dug themselves a 40-21 first half hole and lost to UC Riverside.