Finding consistency remains the goal for Texas A&M, which will try to stop a two-game losing streak on Tuesday when Montana visits College Station, Texas.
To Aggies forward Zach Clemence, the team’s best stretches are “definitely a peek of what we can do, and it looks good, works well.
“We just got to get all 40 (minutes) of it,” Clemence said.
Specifically, the Aggies’ latter 20 minutes have been the issue.
Texas A&M (2-2) has been outscored by 22 points in the second halves of its losses at Oklahoma State and against UCF.
On Friday, the Aggies led UCF by 14 points with 12:15 to play — but they were outscored 46-20 the rest of the way. They squandered the lead despite placing six players in double figures, led by Marcus Hill (14) and Rashaun Agee (13).
Aggies first-year coach Bucky McMillan knows a turnaround starts with staying persistent.
“If you want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the season,” he said, “you have to have resiliency and toughness in these moments. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. We have to keep controlling what we can control.”
Montana (4-1), which won 25 games and played in the NCAA Tournament last year, is off to the program’s best five-game start since 2018.
While Money Williams has scored 30-plus points in consecutive games and averages a team-best 20.2 per game, the Grizzlies have three other players who average double figures. That includes Te’Jon Sawyer and Brooklyn Hicks at 11.0 apiece.
Tyler Isaak, a Cal Baptist transfer, followed Williams with 19 points Friday to help Montana to a 90-82 home win against Cal Poly.
“We’re starting to find some depth and be able to play through adversity when guys aren’t hot,” said Grizzlies coach Travis DeCuire.
Now, Montana will brace for a challenge from the Aggies and their frenetic style.
“They will be pressing the whole game,” DeCuire said. “It will be interesting to see what the film looks like, but we’re going to have to continue to take care of the ball. I think we’re going to need to have fewer than 10 turnovers in that game if we want to give ourselves a chance.”
The Grizzlies are 0-11 against SEC schools, including 0-6 under DeCuire.
