Southeastern Louisiana @ Texas A&M preview
Reed Arena
Last Meeting ( Nov 16, 2015 ) Southeastern Louisiana 58, Texas A&M 100
With Texas A&M's nonconference schedule nearing an end, the Aggies have yet to conquer coach Buzz Williams' repeated concern: turnovers.
The Aggies' next chance to show improvement comes Tuesday when Southeastern Louisiana visits College Station, Texas.
Texas A&M (3-1) averaged 18.3 turnovers in its first three games, all wins, over a team from the Southland Conference and two from the Western Athletic Conference, by an average of 16.3 points.
When the Aggies turned the ball over 20 times against TCU of the Big 12 on Saturday, the outcome wasn't a surprise -- a 73-55 loss.
"Maybe sometimes the results hide (the turnovers) regardless of the opponent. When you're a teenager, ‘Hey, we still won. What's the big deal?' So maybe in that regard, maybe this will be a wakeup call," Williams said.
Texas A&M also allowed TCU to shoot 52.0 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent from long range, significantly higher than their previous opponents.
"The simplest answer is, is we really struggled keeping the ball in front of us," Williams said, and then when the players scrambled to catch up to the ball, "we're behind the rest of that possession."
The Aggies' offense struggled as well. Leading scorer Emanuel Miller (18 points per game) shot only 3 of 7 from the floor and finished with 10 points. While four players average in double figures in scoring, only three did so against the Horned Frogs, led by Jay Jay Chandler with 12.
The Lions are the second team on the Aggies' schedule from the Southland, following New Orleans, which lost 82-53 in College Station on Nov. 29.
Southeastern Louisiana (1-5) was picked to finish 11th in the 13-team conference. While the Lions were routed in road games at LSU and at UAB, two of their other three losses were each within nine points.
Their win was an 81-80 decision against Cal Baptist on Dec. 2 in Riverside, Calif., and it came just two days removed from the 53-point loss at LSU.
"It shows the grit and toughness of the team," Lions coach David Kiefer said. "Cal Baptist was able to practice for a week for the game, and we practiced 45 minutes the day of the game. It was just great to see our guys bounce back after a tough one at LSU and then to battle through the 1,800-mile road trip."
Southeastern Louisiana isn't scheduled to play a home game until Jan. 2, which would be its 11th game of the season.
Most recently, the Lions fell at Louisiana Tech 78-69, although it was a three-point game with just over four minutes left before the Bulldogs pulled away. The Lions hit only 5 of 17 (29.4 percent) from the free-throw line, after coming in averaging just over 60 percent.
Pape Diop led the Lions with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Gus Okafor added 14 points.
Southeastern Louisiana has had five players lead the team in scoring in its six games, with only Keon Clergeot, a transfer from Massachusetts, doing it twice. He is averaging a team-best 10 points per game.
--Field Level Media