Buzz Williams Says Texas A&M Aggies Can't 'Count On' More Comebacks

The Texas A&M Aggies have had some incredible second-half bounce backs in January, including those in the wins against Oklahoma and Ole Miss.

Jan 4, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Zhuric Phelps (1) dribbles the ball as Texas Longhorns forward Arthur Kaluma (6) defends during the second half at Reed Arena. The Aggies defeated the Longhorns 80-60. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

How exactly do they do it?

For the majority of the conference play for Buzz Williams and the No. 13 Texas A&M Aggies, the gameplan seems to follow an interesting pattern.

Struggle heavily in the first half, and then come soaring back in the second half, getting themselves back in contention for a win.

And in a lot of cases this year, it has resulted in a win, whether it turns into a runaway like the game against LSU or the clutch antics of Manny Obaseki lifting the Aggies over the Ole Miss Rebels Wednesday night thanks to a dagger from beyond the arc with only 13 seconds left in the game.

Jan 4, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies forward Solomon Washington (9) reacts in celebration after defeating the Texas Longhorns 80-60 at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Aggies win against the Oklahoma Sooners saw them come back from an 18-point hole throughout the second half.

Is it skill? Perhaps some kind of superstition? Maybe just pure luck?

You can be the judge of that, but according to head coach Buzz Williams, he knows that the Aggies need a favorable second half to get themselves back in the game whenever they do dig themselves in a hole.

"I don't know that you can count on that per game, you just playing from behind and so many things have to go right in offense and on defense and so we're trying to do a better job in the last four minutes," Williams said.

Williams also talked about how he used another sport as an analogy of how to play with their backs against the wall.

"It's kind of like a football game. They say in the NFL, the middle eight minutes (last four of the first half, first four of the second half) and so I taught that to our guys a couple years ago and we've kind of brought it back to life a little bit more," Williams said. "It's fun if you win those games but the litany of things that went wrong in the first half is just too much to overcome repeatedly."

As for the reason the hole is dug in the first place, Williams believe it is just that: poor performance.

"In my opinion, we were embarrassingly bad, and it puts an inordinate amount of pressure on you to overcome those margins with only a half and I think the longer this goes, we've played about a third of the conference games, it really speaks to that."

Williams and the Aggies travel to the Texas state capital to take on the Texas Longhorns for the second Lone Star Showdown in men's hoops this month, as the Aggies hope to repeat their dominant 80-60 win from earlier this month over their biggest rivals.

The Aggies and Longhorns will tip off from the Moody Center in Austin at 1:30 p.m. CT.

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