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Who saw this coming?
We had lost our last four at home, and the Wildcats were on a five game winning streak… and we won this one with ultimately little fuss.
This is a crazy, unpredictable sport. And I love it.
Early Turnover Problems
The first half environment at Reed Area… well, it wasn’t great. When added to the early start time and less-than-excellent offense both teams are known for, it led to a first half that really wasn’t very much fun to watch.
The defining characteristic of the opening period was Kansas State’s ability to score off turnovers. Their half court sets were really quite awful for most of the half, but they rode 17 points off turnovers to an early advantage.
Halftime Score: Kansas State 30, Texas A&M 26
Mitchell Carries The Day
For the entire second half, Chuck Mitchell was the best player on the floor. He was as reliable as ever from beyond the arc, he handled the bulk of the ball handling duties, and he constantly harassed KSU on the defensive end en route to a couple of breakaway buckets. His play was the driving force behind a 10-0 run that flipped the game for us in the second half.
Chuck put the team on his back doe!
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 26, 2019
His 2️⃣2️⃣ 2nd half points led the way in today's victory.
Watch him go to work #GigEm pic.twitter.com/BBSnLzO7m5
The Wildcats finally looked good for small stretches of the second half, and at one point they used a string of three consecutive buckets to close the gap, but we followed with something we’ve rarely done this year.
We closed the door.
We got good looks in critical late game possessions (rare), we hit our free throws with Kansas State tried to extend the game (also rare), and we didn’t do anything dumb down the stretch (rarest). It was smart, solid basketball. The stuff good teams do.
Score one for the SEC.
Final Score: Texas A&M 65, Kansas State 53
Overall Thoughts
We asked the team to respond after their terrible performance last week, and they responded. They pushed Florida to the brink on the road as 11-point underdogs, and they disposed of a white-hot Kansas State team at home.
Even the most pessimistic among us must be happy with that turn of events.
Next up is LSU at home, which is a good chance for us to build a little momentum.
BTHO LSU