Credit to Brad Marquardt | Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 15 Texas A&M men’s basketball team opens its 2023-24 season with a home matchup against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions at 7 p.m. on Monday at Reed Arena. It will be the season-opener for both teams.
Promotions Update:
- A&M FACULTY & STAFF APPRECIATION: 2 FREE tickets for all faculty & staff in advance and on gameday. Additional tickets $5 each. Email 12thManMarketing@athletics.tamu.edu for promo code.
- MILITARY APPRECIATION: Military personnel can claim complimentary game tickets through Vet Tix. Tickets subject to availability. For details, visit 12thMan.com/Military.
- AGGIES CAN: The annual AGGIES CAN drive is celebrating over two decades of giving back to our local community! Texas A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Aggie student-athletes are asking for your help in collecting non-perishable food and monetary donations to benefit the Brazos Valley Food Bank and The 12th Can.
- AGGIE BASKETBALL FAN ZONE: Located at the North entry of Reed Arena, the Fan Zone includes games, giveaways, and activities for the whole family! For ALL fans opening one hour prior to tip-off.
- STUDENT GIVEAWAY: ’23-’24 Reed Rowdies shirts available for ALL students in the Fan Zone.
Texas A&M Storylines
- Texas A&M enters 2023-24 ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 19 by USA Today Coaches Poll. The Aggies were ranked in the AP preseason poll for the seventh time since the wire service began its college basketball rankings for the 1948-49 season. It was the Aggies’ first preseason ranking since starting the 2018 season at No. 25. Only twice have the Aggies been ranked higher in the preseason poll: No. 13 in 2007 and No. 14 in 1980. The Aggies have been ranked in the last five editions of the AP Top 25.
- The Aggies lost just a single player that exhausted his collegiate eligibility in 2022-23 (Dexter Dennis). Leading the group of returnees are junior G Wade Taylor IV and graduate G Tyrece Radford, who both earned All-SEC honors last year. All told, the team’s 2022-23 individual leaders in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, 3-pointers and free throws will be back in action for the Aggies.
- Texas A&M added five new players to its roster: graduae transfers G Eli Lawrence (Middle Tennessee) and F/C Wildens Leveque, junior transfer G Jace Carter (Illinois-Chicago), freshman G Bryce Lindsay and freshman G/F Rob Dockery.
- Dockery will become the first player in school history to wear jersey #9 after the NCAA adjusted its jersey rules to allow players to wear numbers 0-99 last summer.
- Head coach Buzz Williams, entering his fifth year in Aggieland, was named SEC Coach of the Year for a second time last year after guiding the Aggies to a 25-10 overall record, including a sparkling 15-3 conference record, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018.
- Williams’ 52 wins over the past two seasons were a program record and he became the first Texas A&M head coach to win 25 or more games in consecutive seasons. Williams’ teams have tallied the two highest-ranked wins in school history over Associated Press Top 25 teams with victories over No. 2 Alabama in the 2022-23 regular season finale and No. 4 Auburn in the 2022 SEC Tournament quarterfinals.
- Taylor IV was one of three NCAA DI players with 500+ points, 125+ assists and 50+ steals while making 85% or better on free throw attempts last season. He led the SEC in free throws made with 168 and FT percentage with an 87.5% success rate at the line.
- Radford has started every game for the Aggies since joining the team as a grad transfer from Virginia Tech in 2021-22. The 6-foot-3 Radford was the only SEC player under 6-foot-7 to average more than 13.0 points/5.0 rebounds per game. He had 26 games with double-figure points last year, including 30-plus nights vs. DePaul (31) and Auburn (30).
- Senior F Andersson Garcia was the SEC’s top rebounder off the bench with a league-best 69 offensive boards and 142 total rebounds. Garcia’s 69 offensive boards off the bench ranked No. 6 nationally and No. 1 among players in the power five leagues. He was the Aggies’ bench leader in points (105), offensive, defensive and total rebounds, steals (20) and free throws made and attempted (35-of-49)
- Sophomore F Solomon Washington was a sparkplug off the bench in his first season with the Aggies. “Solo” ranked No. 7 in the SEC with 33 offensive boards off the bench. Among SEC bench players, he tied for 12th in blocked shots (14) and ranked No. 14 in total rebounds (75).
Aggies-Lions History
- Texas A&M holds a 3-1 series advantage against Texas A&M-Commerce, which joined the TAMU System in 1996. Prior to 1996, A&M-Commerce was known as East Texas State University.
- It is the first regular season meeting between the schools since the 1980 Southwest Conference Champion Aggies beat the Lions, 85-42, at Texas A&M’s venerable old home, G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Aggies in Season-Openers:
- Aggie head coach Buzz Williams is 4-0 in season-openers at Texas A&M with wins over Northwestern State, New Orleans, North Florida and ULM from 2019-22.
- Texas A&M has won its last 23 home openers at Reed Arena, including 22 straight season openers.
Last Time Out:
- Texas A&M dropped an 89-84 decision to old conference rival Texas Tech in exhibition play as part of the Compete 4 Cause Classic at the Super Pit in Denton on Oct. 29.
- The back-and-forth affair featured 10 lead changes and seven ties and neither team led by more than eight points. The contest was tied at 82-82 with 1:07 remaining but the Red Raiders hit their free throws down the stretch to earn the victory.
- Junior G Wade Taylor IV led the team with 25 points as he hit four 3-pointers and 11 of 14 free throws. Other Aggies chipping in double-digit points were senior F Henry Coleman III with 16 and graduate G Tyrece Radford with 12. Coleman and senior F Andersson Garcia tied for the team lead with nine rebounds.
Seeking Win No. 75:
- Head coach Buzz Williams enters his fifth year in Aggieland and his 17th year as a head coach. He enters 2023-24 with a 327-202 record (74-47 at Texas A&M).
- A win over A&M-Commerce would be the 75th for Williams at Texas A&M.