Texas A&M has dealt with a lot of adversity over the first month of the season, so the fact that it isn't running its new offense effectively might not be that big of a surprise.
Following their worst shooting performance of the season, the 25th-ranked Aggies look to win their 14th straight over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night.
After averaging 82.0 points and shooting 61.0 percent in its first two games, Texas A&M's offense hasn't been as effective as the Aggies have admittedly struggled to adapt to new coach Billy Kennedy's fast-paced style. They've averaged 57.5 points and shot 42.0 percent over the last four games.
Texas A&M (5-1) overcame a slow start before defeating Alcorn State 56-44 on Wednesday for its third straight win. The Aggies shot 40.3 percent and missed all 17 3-point attempts.
"The zone has given us problems this year," said senior forward David Loubeau, who had 14 points and six rebounds. "We've got to find a half-court offense and go from there."
Besides lacking an outside threat with Khris Middleton out after partially tearing his right meniscus in the season opener, one of the big problems that has come out of Kennedy's system is the high volume of turnovers. Texas A&M turned the ball over 18 times for the second straight game Wednesday.
The Aggies are averaging 15.8 turnovers while their opponents are committing 13.3 per game.
Kennedy said earlier this week the Aggies' progression would be a work in progress, and they may be hurt by some early upheaval in the program. Besides losing Middleton, Kennedy took a brief leave of absence following a diagnosis of early stage Parkinson's disease.
The coach said Texas A&M's current problem is a lack of production from the bench, which scored 16 points on 7-of-20 shooting and had nine of the team's turnovers against Alcorn State.
"We're not getting much help from our bench right now," Kennedy said. "We've got to get more help, or we're just going to have to shorten our rotation."
Junior forward Ray Turner continues to be the Aggies' most consistent player. He scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting Wednesday and is averaging a team-high 14.5 points.
Texas A&M will now look to continue its domination of Stephen F. Austin (3-2), which has won two in a row after defeating Wiley College 72-66 on Wednesday.
Kevin Broussard scored a career-high 23 points after recording 14 in the first four games, while senior center Jereal Scott added 18 points against the NAIA school.
The Lumberjacks went 18-11 last season, with Scott leading the way with 13.3 points per game. He's scored at least 17 three times this season and had a career high-tying three blocks Wednesday.
Texas A&M, which has won 64 straight at home against non-conference opponents, beat Stephen F. Austin 62-53 last season. The Lumberjacks' last win in the series was 89-82 in 1970.
