.....10 Steps Back (Kansas Recap)

I am glad that I have not had time to start typing this until a couple of days had passed since the Aggies got taken behind the woodshed in Lawrence on Monday. I was pretty mad (disappointed) that evening and have now of course had some time to think about bigger picture things with regards to this year's squad.

I'm not going to spend a huge amount of time talking about the game Monday. The Aggies got absolutely whipped by a slightly above-average group from KU, and they were never in the contest.

Turgeon did not have them ready to play, and it was apparent very quickly they were in for a VERY long night.

The numbers from the first 10+ minutes of this game were just staggering:

Texas A&M Field Goals 3-for-8
Kansas Field Goals 9-for-17
Texas A&M Turnovers 9
Kansas Turnovers 3
Texas A&M Assists 1
Kansas Assists 5

When the opening 10 minutes was all accounted for, the Aggies had comfortably settled into a nice 24-to-8 deficit, and from that point they just sat back and enjoyed the show that KU put on.

When all was said and done, the Aggies were thoroughly embarrassed on ESPN's Big Monday (SportsCenter lead in....) and got thumped by Kansas 73-53.

Not a single Aggie managed to score in double digits, and the only positive thing on the stat sheet was that they finished the night a very respectable 17-of-22 (77.3%) from the free-throw line.

The other thing that went well was that Jerry told me that a few players even got to meet George Brett and get his autograph during timeouts - so that's good!!!! What a special night in Lawrence.

OK - Look - Here is the deal. Here is what I love about College Basketball and the grind of conference play. Things are never as good as they seem and never as bad as they seem. It's not like College Football where one loss can ruin your season. A loss here and a loss there can actually be a good thing from time to time, help keep a group of kids grounded.

And remember, when I say "never as bad as they seem", this of course does not include the Aggies' 0-17 conference season in 2004. That was actually maybe worse than it seemed.

Anyhow - I think the end game for this team needs to be a 9-7 conference record and then at least 1 win in Oklahoma City in the B12 tournament. When you look at the remainder of the schedule, I certainly think they can get there. Don't give up on them just yet. They were as bad as bad can be on Monday night, but we have also seen them play at a level that shows they can win some of the "up" games on their schedule.

After a trip to Austin tomorrow night, the Aggies return home for 3 of their next 4 games and the schedule will lighten up substantially.

We'll have a look at the Aggies' game against UT for you later today or Saturday morning. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 and will be broadcast on ESPNU.

I hope you all have had a good week.

Carry on.
-sb