Texas A&M 58, St. John's 57

[recap] [box score]

I'm beginning to see why Steve Lavin has been so insistent on playing that aggressive 1-1-3 trapping zone.

After being shredded by Arizona's three-point shooting last night and giving up a three triples in the first eight minutes or so against Texas A&M, Lavin finally put his team into a man-to-man defense, and he switched back and forth throughout the game. Almost immediately, the Aggies shifted their focus from the perimeter to the interior.

The Red Storm only go seven deep, and of that group, only God'sgift Achiuwa is a post player. And at 6'8", 236, he's actually undersized against the front-line players of most power-conference teams. The matchup problems continue at the power forward position: Moe Harkless is 6'8", but weighs only 190 pounds, and is clearly more accustomed to playing on the wing than he is banging underneath with power forwards.