Instant Reaction: Aggies over the Islanders 95-70

The Aggies kept the momentum rolling tonight at Reed Arena as they moved to 3-0 on the young season. The Islanders provided more of a challenge than the Aggies have seen to date, and they did a good job as a warm up game for A&M and showed some new looks for the Ags to learn from. The Aggies once again had four scorers in double digits, but shot a season-worst 41% from behind the arc. Yes, that last part was said a little tongue in cheek.

1. Anthony Collins keeps looking better

The first game was a consistent look from a point guard running the team. The second game he showed a little of a shooting touch. Tonight we saw flashes of him showing his quickness and blowing by defenders to get to the rim. I didn't know what to expect from Collins coming into the season, but he has definitely been the biggest and most welcome surprise of the young season. Even when it looks like he may be starting to press too hard and on the verge of losing control, he manages to stop on a dime and deliver a great pass to one of our many open shooters. This having a legitimate PG thing is pretty neat.

2. How 'bout them free throws!

Talking about things that are neat, the Aggies were money from the free throw line tonight. Perhaps the most impressive thing about going 20-22 from the stripe tonight was that 12 of those came from the big men. Free throw shooting has long been a painful thing for Aggie fans to watch, and we can only hope tonight's performance is a trend that will continue.

3. The assists keep coming, but so do the turnovers

The Aggies came into the game tonight leading the nation in assists per game as a team. They also came into the game on the opposite end of the spectrum in the turnover category. You would definitely like to see this getting cleaned up more quickly against this level of opponent. It's been interesting to see the staff let players play through the turnovers compared to the short leash we are used to seeing. Then again, you kind of have to live with a little higher than usual turnover count when you push the ball as much as we are. It got a little better, but it can still get cleaner.

The Aggies will play their fourth game in eight days when they are back in Reed Arena again this Saturday against UNC Asheville. Tipoff is at 3PM.