Texas A&M football: How Reed Arena got its name
Reed Arena has been around since 1998. Here is a history of Texas A&M’s arena that sits nearly 13,000 people.
COLLEGE STATION — When asked Monday what Kentucky does well, Texas A&M men’s basketball head coach Buzz Williams kept it simple: “Everything.”
“Really have enjoyed studying them. For sure the prettiest offense in the country,” Williams continued.
The No. 11 Aggies (13-3, 2-1) travel to Lexington to take on a Wildcats (13-3, 2-1) on Tuesday team that has five players who average double-digit points and a sixth who just misses out, scoring 9.9 a game.
It’s another daunting task for Williams and his crew, who have opened SEC play going 2-1. A hard-fought loss to Alabama on Saturday is still fresh in their minds, but they will have no time to dwell on it as they prepare for No. 9 Kentucky.
“Just how they play very unique, dissimilar to any team in the SEC in the time we’ve been here, easy to see why coach (Mark Pope) has had such success and such notoriety relative to this offense,” Williams said.
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The Wildcats are second in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 89.2 points per game. They have a trio of guards in Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler and former Aggie Jaxson Robinson, who have tallied 15.6, 13.9, and 12.6, respectively.
“I don’t know that we know how to slow it down or stop it; not many teams have had such success with that,” Williams said. “Not only are they talented and skilled, that’s easy to figure out. But their style of play is very distinct and you have to make a lot of decisions on how you’re going to try and slow them down.”
Tuesday’s game is just another in the long, grueling schedule A&M will endure. The Aggies enter the game having played 10 Quad 1 and Quad 2 matchups, going 7-3 in those outings. A trip to Kentucky gives them another chance to fatten their resume with a win.
Aggies leaning on belief and intangibles to find success
Any time Buzz Williams has talked to the media this season, he has made it a point to state he doesn’t believe his team is the best or most talented in the country. He knows his team has shortcomings. However, it’s the culture he has helped build and the character of the players he has brought in that has the Aggies among the top teams in the country this season.
“The belief they have in one another, the belief they have in what we’re doing. I think their spirit — which is an intangible — their spirit of togetherness, of fight, of belief, whatever that is, would be, what I would say has had more of an impact than all of the volatility,” Williams said.
That volatility Williams speaks of is welcoming the Texas Longhorns in a rivalry renewed to open SEC play, followed by going down 18 points to Oklahoma without star guard Wade Taylor IV on the floor, then falling down 15 to the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide then coming within a missed 3-point try from tying the game with 41 seconds left.
Taylor IV, the team’s leading scorer, has missed the last few games while mending an undisclosed injury.
“There’s going to be volatility tomorrow, there’s going to be some two or three outlier stats tomorrow that is going to be talked about in post-game, and talked about when I see you guys on Friday like it’s just going to keep adding layers to the volatility,” Williams said. “But I think the spirit and the fight and the togetherness and the dap and the hugs and the smiles and the eye contact and the body language, like, that’s hard to find in 2025.”
Ten of Texas A&M’s 15 players are upperclassmen, and seven have been with the program for two-plus years. That experience and camaraderie, in today’s climate of college athletics, have Williams and the Aggies feeling like they have an advantage.
Texas A&M plays at Kentucky at 6 p.m. Tuesday, televised on ESPN2.
Reach Texas A&M Beat Reporter Tony Catalina via email at ACatalina@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
