Texas A&M Aggies' Buzz Williams Previews NCAA Tournament Matchup vs. Yale

The Texas A&M Aggies face the Ivy League champions to begin March Madness.

Mar 13, 2025; Nashville, TN, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams yells instructions to his team against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Despite going one-and-done in the SEC Tournament, the Texas A&M Aggies still had an impressive enough body of work to earn a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, their first opponent is absolutely not one to take lightly.

The Aggies will begin March Madness against the No. 13 seed Yale Bulldogs, who just won the Ivy Leauge championship after defeating Cornell in the final on Sunday. James Jones' team is no stranger to March Madness, as the Bulldogs are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past four years.

Just last year, the Bulldogs earned one of the biggest wins in program history by defeating Auburn 78-76 in the first round. Now, they'll look to break another SEC team's hearts early on.

Nov 16, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Yale Bulldogs guard John Poulakidas (4) shoots as Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Frank Mitchell (00) defends during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

When looking at the Bulldogs, the first thing that stands out is their exceptional shooting. Yale ranks 11th in the country at 49 percent from the field, but more impressively, ranks eighth in the country at 38.8 percent from three-point range. Guard John Poulakidas and forward Nick Townsend - the Bulldogs' leading scorers at 19.2 and 15.4 points per game, respectively - are shooting 40.9 percent and 49.1 percent from beyond the arch, respectively.

If the Aggies want to avoid the upset, they'll have to play some outstanding defense.

"Yeah, we need to do better than we have at times," head coach Buzz Williams told reporters Sunday. "They're top 10 [in field goal percentage]. Then we got a lot of studying to do on their personnel. Andy was pulling up their box score. They shot 20 threes today. I don't know how many they're shooting per game. Maybe they play slow if they only shot 20, or maybe it was just a slow game."

Yale averages 19.7 three-point attempts per game, which is actually among the lowest rates in the country. When the Bulldogs do pull up from beyond the arch, though, there's a pretty good chance that shot is going down.

A&M, meanwhile, is looking to finally break through in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies went one-and-done in Williams' first appearance in 2023 with a loss to Penn State, then lost to No. 1 seed Houston in the second round in 2024. Now in their third consecutive tournament, and as a No. 4 seed, expectations will be higher.

Williams, however, doesn't believe that postseason success should solely define a coach or team.

"We still want to do well in the NCAA tournament, but I would not suggest, nor do I feel as a coach, that it all should be based on postseason," Williams said. "This is my 11th NCAA tournament as a coach, but when you start talking about 33 games, 32 games, and when you get above that, obviously, you're talking about postseason. I think all of that success led to this moment, and now you just want to build on it."

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