The key to Texas A&M’s signature win over Kentucky last Saturday was the way in which it controlled the boards. As an example, the Aggies’ Tyler Davis grabbed a career-high nine offensive rebounds, the most influential of which came at the end of overtime for the game winner. Davis followed up that impressive performance with five offensive rebounds against Mississippi State in another win on Wednesday night. With the A&M offense appearing to reach its potential down the stretch, the last thing opponents want to do is give the Aggies extra chances.
Billy Kennedy likes what he sees from his freshmen. (AP)
Davis has put together a 13.7 percent offensive rebounding rate in his first year in College Station, a mark that ranks second nationally among power conference freshman (Diamond Stone – Maryland). In a year of SEC newcomers like Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray, Malik Newman and Skal Labissiere, Davis has often been overshadowed by other names throughout the league. But with his recent play along with the likelihood that Simmons will display his talents in a lesser postseason tournament, Davis could end up as the most discussed SEC freshman by the start of the NCAA Tournament. In this edition of Freeze Frame, we look at a big reason why Texas A&M will be a tough out in March by reviewing all five of Davis’ offensive rebounds against Mississippi State.
Davis busted right out of the gates, grabbing his first offensive rebound less than a minute into the game. In the frame below, Davis sets a bruising screen on Quinndary Weatherspoon as Danuel House runs the baseline, knocking Weatherspoon momentarily out of the play and giving Davis great position to clean up the miss.
Davis sets a screen on the baseline.
In the next frame, Davis begins sealing off Gavin Ware under the basket. As if he knew exactly where the ball was going, Davis abandons Ware at the last second to block out the much smaller IJ Ready. He guessed right and grabbed the board, leaving Ready no other option in this situation than to foul him.
Davis has position on the 5’11” guard.
His next offensive rebound came almost three minutes into the first half. First, as the next frame shows, Davis gets excellent position by sealing off his defender in the post.
Davis with position in the post.
He goes up strong with the ball, but misses. He then grabs his own miss ahead of both Ware and Travis Daniels, and then pivots to go over both defenders for a basket and the foul. This move shows his excellent footwork and how he excels through contact in the post.
Not even two Bulldogs can stop Davis.
In the next frame, Davis is surrounded by five Bulldogs in the paint but he comes up with the ball. This play was all hustle and effort.
Not even all five Bulldogs can stop him this time.
In the next frame, Davis sets another excellent screen before crashing into the middle of the paint. Even when he seems boxed out, Davis never quits. He makes a swim move around Ware to establish much better position and grabs his fourth offensive rebound.
Davis fights through to grab another rebound.
His final offensive rebound comes with seven minutes left in the first half. Both defenders swarm Admon Gilder as he drives the lane, leaving Davis alone on the baseline. Gilder misses the shot but Davis swoops in unopposed for the tip-in.
Gilder draws attention and Davis is by himself.
You can see in the above frames that Davis has a knack for finding excellent position to use his big body to his advantage. Because he continually finds great offensive rebounding position, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Davis was in the right spot to beat Kentucky and followed that up with another dominant performance against Mississippi State. Nor should it surprise anyone if Davis comes up with a few big plays to advance his team this March.