The first thing Texas A&M men’s basketball coach Bucky McMillan pointed out after the Aggies’ 118-77 win over East Texas A&M last week was the 32 assists his team compiled.
McMillan knows with SEC play right around the corner, the Aggies will have to be able to move the ball on offense.
Texas A&M (9-3) will try to get even better Monday when it hosts Prairie View A&M (5-7) in a nonconference game in College Station, Texas.
“We have gotten better,” McMillan said. “We still need to guard on the ball better, but we are getting better.”
McMillan was especially happy with junior Pop Isaacs, who has battled injuries this season but came off the bench to play 19 minutes, score 15 points and dish out six assists against East Texas A&M.
“He practiced well this past week and coincidentally played one of his best games, if not his best game,” McMillan said. “Playing time and how you play on the floor are usually based off of how you practice. It is hard when you haven’t been healthy enough to practice, but he has been able to put together practices. Obviously, he is a threat. He makes big shots. Some of the shots he makes, in the SEC, those are the only shots you can get off at times.”
The Aggies have a balanced attack with four of their five starters averaging in double figures.
Sophomore Ruben Dominguez leads the way with 13.7 points per game.
Senior Marcus Hill scores 12.2 and junior Mackenzie Mgbako is scoring 10.4 per game.
Senior Rashaun Agee leads with 7.8 rebounds per game and is scoring 12.3 points.
The Panthers were up 10 with 17 minutes to go before losing 104-90 to LSU Dec. 22.
‘Obviously, we were looking to get the win,” Prairie View A&M coach Byron Smith told LSUsports.net. “We played the right way, played hard, played smart, played together but just came up short.”
Senior guard Tai’Reon Joseph led the Panthers with 34 against LSU. Joseph is averaging 22.2 points per game.
“He’s probably been the best kept secret in college basketball,” Smith said. “He can play a lot of places. We are fortunate to have him. He’s a heck of a player and heck of a talent.”
