It has taken Texas A&M’s Pop Isaacs some time to round into form this season.
But heading into Saturday’s game against Oklahoma in College Station, Texas, Isaacs is finally looking like the player Aggies coach Bucky McMillan expected when he recruited Isaacs in the transfer portal out of Creighton during the offseason.
Isaacs suffered a hip injury just eight games into last season. Though he started this season healthy and available, he struggled on both ends early.
In his first 10 games, Isaacs averaged 8.2 points, shooting 37.7% from the field with 1.9 assists.
But over the last four games, Isaacs has shown significant improvement, even as the competition has ramped up with the start of Southeastern Conference play.
Isaacs is averaging 15.0 points, shooting 55.3% with 4.5 assists.
“His skills just weren’t caught up to where they were. And then when he’s not able to practice, he obviously can’t be able to play at game speed because he wasn’t even able to play at practice speed,” McMillan said. “Then when he got back healthy, I think he had to be reminded of how hard you have to practice to be able to do it in a game.”
Isaacs is a big reason Texas A&M (12-3, 2-0 SEC) enters Saturday’s game against the Sooners on a five-game winning streak.
Isaacs played the Sooners twice during his time at Texas Tech before transferring to Creighton.
The Aggies are coming off a 90-88 win over Auburn on Tuesday.
Oklahoma (11-4, 1-1) had won five consecutive games before Wednesday’s 72-53 loss at Mississippi State.
The Sooners were just 3 of 20 on 3-pointers in that loss, with just three total points from their bench.
Both teams have been driven by their offense.
Texas A&M is averaging 94.4 points per game and shooting 49% from the field with 20.9 assists per game — tops among major-conference teams.
Ruben Dominguez leads a balanced Aggies attack with 13.7 points per game, while Rashaun Agee is averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds.
Oklahoma is averaging 85 points per game, shooting 58.8% from inside the arc and turning the ball over just 9.5 times per game.
The Sooners are led by Nijel Pack, who is averaging 15.9 points, while Xzayvier Brown is averaging 15.7.
