No. 12 Texas A&M looks to avoid slip-up against Houston Christian

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You don’t want to successfully evade land mines and then slip on a banana peel.

That’s kind of what Texas A&M aims to avoid.

The Aggies (9-2) have risen to No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the NET rankings by emerging relatively unscathed through a challenging schedule.

They’re riding a five-game winning streak, which includes victories over top 100-ranked NET opponents Texas Tech (29th), Purdue (31st), Creighton (80th) and Rutgers (88th). The Aggies also defeated Wake Forest (107th).

A&M hopes to avoid a letdown against Houston Christian (4-7) when they meet Friday at 1 p.m. at Reed Arena.

A&M probably couldn’t have asked for a better showing in its first 11 games. Coach Buzz Williams acknowledged five of the Aggies’ nine victories have been decided by two possessions or less.

“I don’t know when we were putting it together and, for sure, when we were playing I was thinking, ‘I wonder if we can get to 9-and-2 going into Houston Christian,’” he said. “I think you’re just trying to give all of your effort, emotion and energy into what gives us our best chance and I am personally doing all that I can to help us. How can I find some way, some words, some action to move the needle just a little bit.”

The rankings show the needle has moved dramatically. However, the Aggies want to keep it rising.

That may require simply being ready to play.

Earlier this season the Aggies followed up an impressive 78-64 victory over Ohio State (37th NET ranking) with a lukewarm 71-54 win over Southern.

The Aggies actually trailed Southern 39-25 at halftime before dominating the second half.

“We were not emotionally or mentally prepared the way we should be in the first half against Southern,” Williams said. “We were dramatically better in the second half and back to normal. Hopefully, that’s the only bad half we’ll have like that.”

The Aggies hope to avoid a similar lapse vs. Houston Christian, which has won two of its last three.

The visiting Huskies are led by the guard trio of Julian Mackey, Bryson Dawkins and Elijah Brooks. They all average 11 points or more. Mackey has hit 25 goals from 3-point range. Dawkins has made 20.

Houston Christian averages almost 25 attempts from 3-point range.

Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

Texas A&M defeated Houston Christian last season 79-52 behind Hayden Hefner’s career-high 24 points and Andersson Garcia’s 19 rebounds.

“They will shoot a very high percentage of their shots from 3,” Williams said. “Probably even a higher volume than what Purdue shot.”

Purdue is among the most accurate 3-point shooting teams in the country. But A&M limited the Boilermakers 34.6 percent — well below their current 40.1 percent.

Yet, the Aggies may have been even better on the offensive end.

Guards Zhuric Phelps and Wade Taylor IV, who’ve led A&M in scoring all season, netted 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Overall, Taylor averages 16 points and Phelps 13.3.

However, in that win over Purdue, the Aggies also picked up a season-high 16 points from 6-foot-9 Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne, who was 6-for-6 from the field.

Williams is optimistic that Payne, who averages 7.2 points, will consistently be more productive moving forward.

“There were a lot of superlative performances in Indianapolis, but this was probably the swing vote,” Williams said. “To be able to throw it to somebody inside, to shoot 100 percent, his presence at the rim defensively was remarkable.

“Can he do it every night? I don’t know. Can he be better than he was the first 10 games? I, for sure, believe that.”

Payne’s possible emergence is just another reason to believe the Aggies can avoid a big slip.