COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 22 Texas A&M men’s basketball team is coming off an 11 point victory over the No. 1 Auburn Tigers. Now the Aggies will travel to Baton Rouge to wrap up the regular season against LSU.
Beating the number one team in the country at home, on senior night, can be emotionally and physically tasking, but the team was energized after the victory and have had impactful practices leading up to Saturday’s contest.
“The vibes were really high, everyone had a smile on their face,” senior guard Manny Obaseki said. “It didn’t look like we had lost four games in a row prior to Auburn, and I think that’s just what this program is about, the culture, everybody being there for each other, everybody moving onto the next thing, getting ready for the next task at hand which is LSU. The past two practices, yesterday was amazing, I mean we were just hoopin’.”
Wade Taylor IV is now 9 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer at Texas A&M and as he narrows in on this historic milestone, his coaches and teammates are both excited for him and inspired by him.
“He’s earned all of it,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “He’s scored a lot of baskets that only players like him can score. Not all of them have been, ‘hey I drew up a tricky play and he’s scored.’…he’s just a talented scorer so any and all records that he sets, I’m happy for him.”
“It’s going to be pretty cool to see him break the record,” Obaseki said. “It was pretty dope, I was mesmerized when they put his jersey in Reed which was crazy. It kind of gives you a sense of motivation as well, kind of motivates me to step up my game as well, keep working and try to be better at my craft.”
It’s been 8 weeks since the Maroon & White hosted LSU so the Tigers will definitely look different on Saturday and that’s why the Aggies have spent extra time in the film room.
“They’ve changed,” Williams said. “They’re playing with four guards a lot more, almost exclusively than they did the first time we played them. They’ve added some actions, they’re a little different defensively. Our prep has been good and the things that we learned from Auburn has been good.”
The Aggies and Tigers will faceoff in Baton Rouge Saturday afternoon. Tipoff at the Maravich Center is set for 3pm on SEC Network.
