COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Saturday night the Lone Star Showdown returns to Reed Arena for the first time since 2012. The Texas Longhorns are the Aggies most common opponent in school history, meeting 225 times. So what better way to kick off SEC play than renewing a rivalry?
“You know, me being somebody from Virginia, never heard of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.
I was always Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry,” Aggie forward Henry Coleman III said. “I kind of know what rivalries are and when you're on one side of them, you just hope the other side doesn't win. So hopefully tomorrow, you know, Zurich [Phelps] and myself and the guys, pull out a win.”
While the Longhorns walk into Reed Arena unranked, Texas finished their non-conference schedule at 11-2. Buzz Williams called Rodney Terry's group “uber talented” and said they seem to be getting better every week.
“They have multiple guys on the team that do not need an action and or a ball screen to get a basket,” Williams said. “We will have to make really hard decisions in how we practice and in real time because they have multiple players who will play long after their career is over at Texas.”
But the Aggies have played one of their toughest non-conference schedules between the amount of road games and quality opponents. Now, as the Maroon and White look to win the conference opener and their 8th straight, they’ll lean on the experiences of those 5 1 to 2 possession wins that the team has come away with over the last two months.
“I give a lot of credit to Coach Layer, who put together a really good schedule, a difficult schedule,” Coleman III said. “Played a lot of games on the road, but I think within that we played a lot of different teams, so it prepares us, you know, very well. Like I just kind of alluded to the SEC, there's a bunch of different style of teams. I mean, I think we got a challenge with that almost every single game playing on non-conference schedule, so I think it's prepared us in the right way.”
The No. 13 Aggies kickoff conference play against the Longhorns Saturday night at Reed Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
