Texas A&M forward Bryan Davis' scoring average is down more than two points a game from last season.
Things like that happen when you're on the floor nearly 19 minutes before taking your first shot, as was the case on Saturday when it wasn't until the 13:53 mark of the second half against Northwestern State that he drove for a basket.
"I'm not about points, I'm about winning, and as you see if you look down at my stats so far I just go in there and do whatever I can possibly do to help the team," Davis said. "If it's rebounding, blocking shots, if it's passing the ball, if it's scoring, whatever it is I'm going to do it."
In the Aggies' 89-63 victory Saturday, it was all of the above except scoring. Davis finished with 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and six points. He had his average in rebounds and all three assists by halftime, something that didn't go unnoticed by coach Mark Turgeon.
"I was impressed with him," Turgeon said. "I told the team at halftime his floor game, his game was by far the best of any that had played the first half. I was proud of him and I think it's just a sign of maturity with Bryan. He knows when he can score, he knows when guys are going to try and take that away from him and he's become a better passer."
Davis' play rubs off on his teammates.
"I think they appreciated what he did the first 25 minutes just to get everybody involved," Turgeon said. "It's contagious, when guys pass the ball it becomes contagious and we have a lot of guys who can really pass the basketball."
Turgeon appreciates the unselfishness of Davis, who returned to A&M after putting his name in for the NBA draft last spring and attending workouts for the scouts.
"What I try to tell every senior is to be who they are, not what someone else is telling them [to get to the NBA]," Turgeon said. "Your team has a good chance to be pretty good when your seniors buy in to doing what the head coach is telling them to do, not what the next level is telling him he needs to do. I think Bryan and [Donald] Sloan are just two guys doing what their college coach is telling them to do and they know the rest will take care of itself."
Davis is certainly thinking team first over individual numbers, attempting 11/2 fewer shots per game than last season while averaging 8.5 points. He's averaging 7.4 rebounds a game, up one per contest over a year ago, and his 1.7 blocks are 1/2 block better than his junior year.
He hopes A&M's underclassmen are paying attention.
"You know, most times you have seniors that just want to go out there and score more points than the last year, and I think when they see a senior doing everything they can do to win they try to imitate you and do the same thing," Davis said.
Davis is also ahead of his assist pace from last season, although he says rebounds mean much more to him.
"The person knocking down the shots should get the credit. They were the ones that made it," Davis said. "I mean, anybody can pass the ball, rebounds are really important to me. Me getting more rebounds can help us out defensively because we are taking away the other team getting second-chance points."
It appears Davis' team-first message is getting through.
"Basically everyone wanted to get him the ball [Saturday] because he had been working so hard on the boards and doing the small things for us," sophomore David Loubeau said. "He hadn't had a touch all first half so we had to get him the ball the second half."
When Davis did get his first touch he made the most of it, proving his offensive game is still there by taking it over a Northwestern State player for an emphatic dunk.
TEXAS A&M MEN
* Tuesday's game: North Dakota (2-13) at Texas A&M (10-3), 7 p.m.
* TV/radio: FSN, Ch. 25/ WTAW, 1620 AM
TEXAS A&M (10-3)
PLAYERPOS.HT.WT.CL.PPGRPG
Dash HarrisG6-1175So.5.3*3.3
Donald SloanG6-3205Sr.17.14.0
Khris MiddletonF6-7215Fr.4.73.1
David LoubeauF6-8230So.8.44.5
Bryan DavisF6-9250Sr.8.57.4
NORTH DAKOTA (2-11)
PLAYERPOS.HT.WT.CL.PPGRPG
Travis MertensF6-5218Sr.10.77.1
Spencer GoodmanF6-5177Fr.6.73.1
Derek BenterF6-7229Jr.5.62.8
Travis BledsoeG6-0185Sr.8.21.6
Patrick MitchellG6-8240So.7.83.4
*assists per game
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