Texas A&M is the college basketball upstart that shouldn’t surprise anyone

PHOENIX — Over the past month, the Texas A&M Aggies have taken separate trips to Ramstein, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, piling up easy wins and résumé-building victories while racking up some serious frequent flyer miles.

On Tuesday, the team found itself in the Valley of the Sun, playing in the aptly named Valley of the Sun Shootout against an Arizona Wildcats team that began the season ranked in the top five. And with two seconds remaining, senior Duane Wilson found himself at the free throw line, needing to make all three attempts to force overtime.

He made two, Arizona survived for a 67-64 victory, and Texas A&M dropped to 7-1 on the season.

But while the night may have ended in disappointment for the Aggies, the result will ultimately serve as a valuable lesson for a team that’s going to encounter plenty of tough settings and challenging opponents come SEC and postseason play.

“That was a great environment for us to get prepared for games down the line,” said head coach Billy Kennedy while talking underneath Talking Stick Resort Arena. “They definitely had a home court advantage, and I think we were able to get something out of it. I’m proud of how well we played.”

Playing well hasn’t been unusual for Kennedy’s teams, whether it be this season or in years past.

The 53-year-old coach guided Texas A&M to improved campaigns in his first five years, going from 14 wins in year one to 18 in year two. His third season in College Station resulted in a CBI berth, with years four and five featuring ascents to the NIT and then the NCAA tournament.

The Aggies took a step back last season, however, but if one month of play in 2017 has told us anything, it’s that Kennedy has his program on an upward trajectory once again.

“There’s a reason why they were 7-0,” Wildcat coach Sean Miller said after Tuesday’s game. “We respect them a great deal. They have a terrific team and a great blend of experience, talent, and size.”

That blend allowed them to cruise to a 23-point win over No. 11 West Virginia in Germany on opening night, then blowout Oklahoma State and Penn State on back-to-back nights to win the Legends Classic one week later.

Those weren’t even the most impressive victories, however. That would come later in November, when Texas A&M walked into the Galen Center and strutted out with a 16-point victory against No. 10 USC.

The reason behind all of this Aggie success isn’t a grand secret.

This is one of the most balanced teams in the nation, one of just seven across the country that has both its offense and defense ranked inside the top 20 of KenPom’s adjusted offense and defense efficiency categories.

It’s been the defense that has perhaps been most impressive (ranked No. 4 in adjusted efficiency), holding both the Cowboys and Trojans to under 60 points while limiting the Mountaineers and Arizona to under 70. Four different players are averaging over a steal per game, while three are blocking more than 1.3 shots a night.

That defense gave Texas A&M its shot at a win against the Wildcats. On a night when shots from beyond the three-point line (a line marked with painter’s tape) weren’t falling, the stingy Aggies gave Miller’s team a fit for all 40 minutes.

A swarming, ball-hawking defense forced the Wildcats to work deep into nearly every possession, much to the chagrin of the Arizona-heavy crowd that made the trip north from Tucson.

Four different Aggies combined for five blocked shots in the first half and held future lottery (and possible top overall) pick DeAndre Ayton to just six second half points. Their ability to ugly up the game led to the always-colorful color commentator Bill Walton remarking he wanted to “impale himself on a saguaro,” and at one point, Miller called a frustration timeout and broke his clipboard after yet another turnover led to a game-tying layup with just over eight minutes to play.

The increased effort on the defensive end of the floor isn’t an accident. Kennedy has implemented hour-long, defensive-specific practices to change the culture in College Station, and his players say the plan is working.

“We have those every day, even in the offseason,” said shooting guard Admon Gilder while meeting with the media last month. “Everyone’s mindset switched over and now we have new principles. We just try to buy in and bring energy for all 40 minutes.”

Gilder is one of four Texas A&M players averaging in double figures, providing that aforementioned balance that few teams across the country can match. He and Wilson, a graduate transfer from Marquette, make up the team’s formidable backcourt that has combined to average 23.6 points and 8.5 assists per game.

It’s Texas A&M’s pair of upperclassmen bigs who lead the team in points, as juniors DJ Hogg and Tyler Davis are scoring at a clip of 15.9 and 14.5 points per game, respectively. Davis especially had his way against the Wildcats, using his 6’10 frame and wide wingspan to kill Arizona in the post.

Combine those four stars with the young but full-of-potential Robert Williams, who leads the team in rebounds and has recorded at least one block in each of his 37 career games, and the Aggies have a starting five that will give them a chance to win every SEC game they play, something that couldn’t be said in the past for Kennedy’s teams.

“We have a great group of guys,” Davis said on Tuesday. “Being on the road a lot has really helped us come together. We had some challenging games and learned a lot of lessons along the way.”

There will be more challenging games to come, but the plan is working so far for Texas A&M.

A tough non-conference slate has hardened the Aggies, a commitment to defense has resulted in a near-perfect record, and a carefully crafted starting lineup will present matchup nightmares on a daily basis come league play.

It’s already been quite a journey, but there are plenty of stops to be made on the road to a Final Four.