SPOKANE, Wash. — It wasn’t meant to sound like an acceptance speech, but Texas A&M junior guard B.J. Holmes wanted to mention a big thank-you Friday before talking about the 69-53 victory over Utah State in a first-round game of the NCAA Tournament.
Thank you, Big 12 Conference.
“Having played against teams like Nebraska and Texas Tech and Colorado really helped us be able to change on the fly against this team,” Holmes said of Utah State. “They run so many patterns. We had to adjust.”
And adjust and adjust and adjust. Coaching and playing against Stew Morrill’s team is like getting caught in a chess match — so many countermoves, so little room. On offense, the former Colorado State coach directs sets upon sets. Defensively, his team will switch between zone and man-to-man — sometimes in midpossession.
A Spokane Arena crowd of 10,899 watched fifth-seeded Texas A&M (24-9) come about as close as a team can get to a checkmate against such a disciplined opponent — although 12th-seeded Utah State (27-8) did pull within striking range (49-42) with 12 1/2 minutes to go.
Utah State, the regular-season Western Athletic Conference champion, entered the game ranked second nationally in 3-point shooting (.419). But with athletic Texas A&M players out on defense to get a hand in the face of the shooter, Utah State managed just 5-for-20 from beyond the arc. Texas A&M players fought through screens and limited Utah State to 38.7 percent shooting overall.
Morrill’s men had topped the country in assist-to-turnover margin, but this time Utah State had more giveaways (nine) than assists (eight).
Utah State was 14-1 this season when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points, so it’s no wonder Texas A&M tried to push the pace — just as it must do against grind-it-out Nebraska.
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon also gave a nod to the Big 12 for preparing its teams to face whatever comes their way — a handy trait in a tournament format that requires quick turnarounds.
“Our league was phenomenal this year,” Turgeon said Friday. “We saw a lot of good athletes, a lot of good shooters, teams that ran, teams that played in the half court.”
How’s this for adjusting? Although Texas A&M finished last among Big 12 teams in 3-point shooting (.333), it established a school record for an NCAA Tournament game with eight treys. Long-range shooting never tops Texas A&M’s game plan, but it was clear early on that Utah State’s switching defenses intended to clog the middle and almost taunt the opponent into shooting over the traffic.
Freshman forward Khris Middleton accepted the dare and hit 5-of-6 3-pointers en route to his game-high 19 points. Holmes went 3-for-5. Texas A&M did a masterful job of driving the lane and then kicking out to shooters with open looks. Utah State’s usually top-notch defense looked a step slow in trying to keep up.
“We moved the ball great all day,” Holmes said.
That’s also a usual forte of Utah State, but it shot just 35.5 percent in the second half. That’s not the way to play catch-up.
“I thought Texas A&M really put on a dominating defensive performance,” Morrill said.
Just like what’s often necessary to win a Big 12 game.
