A win is a win, am I right? The Texas A&M Aggies came out on top Wednesday night with a close and ugly match-up against Troy University. The Trojans came out of tip-off with fiery defense, holding the Aggies to a 12-5 advantage and forcing six turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game. The Aggies shot just 5-of-26 from the floor in the first half. Heading into halftime the Aggies were scoreless for the previous 4 minutes and down 25-17. Buzz Williams did something you don’t often see, the team didn’t head to the locker room during halftime, instead they huddled on the court for Williams to drill into the team to “try really, really hard”. The Aggies took the message to heart, and opened the second half on a 13-3 run to take a one-point advantage. The two teams traded baskets back and forth for ten minutes before the Aggies went on a final 12-0 run to give a little room for comfort your comfort zone is your enemy, and that was true for the Aggies when the Trojans took a 8-2 run to cut the lead down to 3. However, in a game where it mattered most and shots weren’t falling, the Aggies redeemed themselves at the free-throw line shooting 17-23 compared to Troy’s 3-9.
This was a meaningful and big win for Buzz Williams as he led the Aggies to a 56-52 win over the Troy Trojans led by coach Scott Cross. These two head coaches share a history, Williams told the press before Wednesday’s match-up, “Scott was the first player I ever signed as a college coach. He is my favorite human being in the world. I remember it very distinctly. The first point guard I ever signed as a head coach is his top assistant coach so we will have to be at our absolute best because Scott literally knows every single thing that we do.” The 3-1 Aggies will be spending Thanksgiving at the Orlando Invitational playing Harvard on Thursday, November 28.