9/27/2023 basketball Edit

Mizzou Basketball opponent preview: Texas A&M

Drew King • PowerMizzou

Basketball Writer

In this series, we’ll look ahead at Mizzou’s opponents in the upcoming 2023-24 season. We’ll continue by previewing the Texas A&M Aggies.

Date & Location: Jan. 23 at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas, and Feb. 7 at Mizzou Arena

2022-23 Record: 25-10 overall (15-3 SEC)

NCAA Tournament Finish: Lost in Round of 64 to No. 10 seed Penn State, 76-59

KEY LOSSES

Dexter Dennis (graduated), Andre Gordon (transferred), Khalen Robinson (transferred)

KEY RETURNERS

Henry Coleman III, Andersson Garcia, Hayden Hefner, Julius Marble, Manny Obaseki, Tyrece Radford, Wade Taylor IV, Solomon Washington

KEY INCOMING TRANSFERS

Jace Carter (UIC, 16.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.6 apg), Eli Lawrence (Middle Tennessee State, 12.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.4 apg), Wildens Leveque (UMass, 5.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.8 apg)

KEY INCOMING FRESHMEN

Bryce Lindsay (N/A), Tyler Ringgold (N/A), Brandon White (N/A)

OUTLOOK

Texas A&M had one of the best mid-season turnarounds in the country last season. A loss at home against Wofford on Dec. 20 dropped the Aggies to 6-5 — not ideal for Buzz Williams, who was looking to make his first NCAA tournament berth in his fourth season as the team’s head coach. But Texas A&M flipped the script after its holiday break, rattling off a seven-game winning streak. The Aggies ended the season finishing in second place in the SEC and earning a bid to the Big Dance as a No. 7 seed.

Williams & Co. are now primed to run it back this year after only losing one starter in Dexter Dennis and two other rotational players. Texas A&M’s continuity should give it a leg up on the rest of the league and its roster might be even deeper than last year with the newcomers Williams brought in, raising the program’s expectations for this season.

Returning junior Wade Taylor IV is an SEC Player of the Year candidate as a point guard who can score, facilitate and defend at a high level. Taylor was one of the few players on last year’s squad who shot an above-average percentage from the 3-point line, and was in the top 100 among NCAA Division I players in assist rate, steal percentage, fouls drawn per 40 minutes and free throw percentage. He’ll be joined in the backcourt by returning graduate senior guard Tyrece Radford, another slasher who helped make up for the Aggies’ subpar outside shooting by frequently getting to the foul line and is an exceptional rebounder for his size, pulling down 5.3 boards per game. The team also brought back senior Hayden Hefner, another plus shooter, and brought in freshman Bryce Lindsay, who reclassified from the Class of 2024 and will back Taylor up at point.

Julius Marble, Henry Coleman III and Andersson Garcia will hold things down in the frontcourt. The trio of forwards helped Texas A&M become one of the most formidable rebounding teams in the country — Garcia in particular ranked 22nd in the country grabbing 14.8% of available offensive rebounds. Marble and Coleman bring a level of physicality that is required to compete in the SEC and Garcia will give the team a different look when needed. Williams also brought in UMass transfer Wildens Leveque, who has SEC experience having previously played at South Carolina, and freshmen bigs Brandon White and Tyler Ringgold to round out his forward depth

Williams will have an open competition for the starting wing spot. Returning junior Manny Obaseki was a regular contributor for the Aggies before suffering an injury in January and missing almost all of conference play. And while he didn’t shoot a high volume of 3s, Obaseki did knock them down at 38.5% clip and could open up driving lanes with his floor spacing. UIC transfer Jace Carter and Middle Tennessee State transfer Eli Lawrence are contenders as well. Carter appears to be a perfect stylistic fit in Texas A&M’s system as an elite rebounder and defender and should bring a lot of what the team lost in Dennis. Lawrence brings the most experience of the three and a bit more of a scoring punch. Returning sophomore Solomon Washington should also see time at both forward spots.

Missouri dropped both of its matchups against Texas A&M last year in large part due to the Aggies’ ability to slow the Tigers down and keep them off the boards. Mizzou should expect the maroon and white to bring a similar edge this season.