FSU Basketball starts tough stretch of non-conference play against Texas A&M

Florida State basketball has had as good a start to the season as you could hope for after playing close against the reigning champion Florida Gators and winning every other game by an average of 28.2 points per game. But most of those wins were against very bad teams, as none of them are ranked higher than 246th on KenPom. That'll change in these next three games against Texas A&M, Georgia, and Houston.

Friday's game will be against Texas A&M. The last time these teams played, FSU upset the 7th-seeded Aggies in the Round of 64 of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, led by Derwin Kitchen, who is now a player development coach for the 'Noles.

Texas A&M and Florida State play very similar brands of basketball, so who will be able to execute their systems best?

This game will be at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN2 from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida (apparently it's the Benchmark International Arena now, but whatever).

Nov 21, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Bucky McMillan motions during the first half against the Manhattan Jaspers at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Texas A&M Aggies Breakdown (4-2 Overall)

Bucky Ball, Baby!

Texas A&M is in its first year under head coach Bucky McMillan after Buzz Williams upped and left for Maryland late in the cycle. McMillan had been at Samford for the last five years, leading them to an NCAA Tournament where they were absolutely robbed of a first-round win over Kansas in 2024.

McMillan became known for his brand of basketball, known as "Bucky Ball." Let me know if this sounds familiar: pace, pressure, putting up threes. If it sounds a lot like Florida State, that's because it is. Both McMillan and Luke Loucks have cited Alabama's Nate Oats as not necessarily an inspiration, but someone that they want to play like.

Texas A&M may have made the NCAA Tournament last year, but it's basically not even worth talking about. They only returned 0.4% of the scoring from last year's roster, which isn't exactly a great thing. But McMillan did bring in a deep and talented roster; it just hasn't gelled yet. They've lost both of the power conference games they've played so far, but it was Oklahoma State and UCF, not exactly great losses.

They share the ball exceptionally well, as they're 2nd nationally in assist rate, and they're definitely putting up a lot of threes. If you were asking me what the over/under for combined three-point attempts in this game would be, I'd probably set it at 70.5; it's going to be a ton. And Texas A&M has shot the ball well from the floor: 37.1% from three, 57.9% on their limited amount of twos, and 76.8% from the free-throw line.

Oklahoma State dominated the game from the outset, as Texas A&M only shot 25.7% from three and turned it over 15 times. The UCF game was not a domination, despite UCF winning by 12. With 9:25 remaining in that game, Texas A&M led 61-48. They lost 86-74, as they turned it over seven times in that span, shot 3/11, and UCF shot 11/13. It was an unbelievable collapse, even as I was rewatching the game. I looked up with ten minutes to go and went, "You want to tell me they lost this game by double-digits?" And they sure did.

But this is a deep, talented roster. They could play 12 or 13 guys in this one, 10 play double-digit minutes on average, and 10 are averaging at least five points per game. They're coming off a 120-84 win over the worst team in Division 1 college basketball, Mississippi Valley State, which was the first time this year MVSU scored more than 73 points in regulation.

The players averaging double-figure scoring: Ruben Dominguez (14.9 PPG), Marcus Hill (12.3 PPG), and Rylan Griffen (11.2 PPG).

Dominguez is a Spanish product who is a LETHAL three-point shooter, shooting 47.3% from three on nearly eight attempts per game. He's taken 59 shots this year, and 55 of them have been threes. Safe to say you can't lose track of him.

Marcus Hill was at NC State last year, Bowling Green the year before that, and started in JUCO. He's not having to take as many shots as he has the last few years, and he's more efficient because of it, but he's still not a great shooter.

Griffen started his career at Alabama for two years, then transferred to Kansas last year, but he didn't make a huge impact there. His assists are way up (3.8 per game) compared to the rest of his career, and he's also a knockdown shooter at 40% on five attempts per game. Those are similar numbers to his second year at Alabama. He missed their last game against Mississippi Valley State with the flu, and they think he should be able to play in this game.

Rashaun Agee is their best defensive rebounder, but that isn't saying much. They're more of a collective rebounding team. He also has the slowest jumpshot you'll ever see, but he's a forward who only takes about two of them per game. There aren't many players on this roster taking more threes than two, but he's one of them.

Mackenzie Mgbako is a former five-star who averaged 12 and 4 for Indiana the last two years, and someone that FSU wanted in the portal. He dealt with an injury to start the year, but has averaged 9.5 PPG in the two games he's played.

Pop Isaacs is a player college basketball fans should be familiar with for his time at Texas Tech and Creighton, but he's struggled to start the year. He was 14.2 PPG in his first three seasons, but he's down to 8.5 this year. He's just not an efficient scorer, which hurts on a team like this when they have other efficient guards.

Josh Holloway is one of the few players to follow McMillan from Samford (8.7 PPG), Zach Clemence is probably their best overall rebounder (7.7 PPG), Jacari Lane is another player that FSU wanted in the portal out of North Dakota State who is shooting a lot of threes (6.6 PPG), and Federiko Federiko is a great offensive rebounder. That covers about everyone you should see get serious minutes in this game.

Nov 11, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Luke Loucks looks on against the Florida Gators at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Florida State Seminoles Breakdown (5-1 Overall)

FSU's win over Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday was as odd as it gets, as they started 0/15 from three and still won by 30. Bakersfield didn't hit a three until the final minutes of the game, though, which is why the Seminoles were able to pull away.

It also helps that they forced a ridiculous 28 turnovers for a rate of 34.6%. That'll win you a lot of basketball games, even when FSU turns it over 16 times, which is something they'll want to address heading into this game.

Florida State now leads the country in forced turnover rate (26.7%), forced turnovers per game (21.8), three-point attempts per game (37.8), and is third in offensive pace. They haven't shot the ball as well as they've wanted from three (33.9%), but I have a belief that they can bounce back, especially if they move the ball efficiently in this game. They have plenty of talented shooters on the roster.

But fouls have been an issue, especially for lead guard Robert McCray V. Luke Loucks isn't like Leonard Hamilton, as he'll trust his guys to play when they're in foul trouble, but McCray has to be smarter. He picked up his fourth foul early in the second half in Tuesday's game, and it's been an issue for him all year.

Projected Starters

Florida State

G: Robert McCray V
G: Kobe MaGee
G: Lajae Jones
F: Chauncey Wiggins
F: Alex Steen

Texas A&M

G: Rylan Griffen
G: Jacari Lane
G: Ruben Dominguez
F: Mackenzie Mgbako
F: Rashaun Agee

Keys to the Game

Drive & Kick With Off-Ball Movement

You'll find the corners are open against Texas A&M's defense frequently, and Florida State has the shooters who can make a team pay for that. But it can't be just firing threes away. It has to come from driving and kicking out to the corners, or making skip passes over the defense.

FSU does have the ball-handlers who can get downhill, such as Robert McCray V and Cam Miles, but McCray has to stay out of foul trouble. He's too important to the offense in this game to be dealing with three or four fouls for most of the second half. If FSU can get downhill and get two feet in the paint consistently, they should have no trouble finding open shots in the corners.

Battle of Pressure

Both of these teams are going to be showing all kinds of pressure. Texas A&M wants to be in your face for 94 feet, while FSU wants to show different kinds of traps and pressures to force a team out of rhythm. Whichever team can handle it better will likely win this game.

FSU hasn't faced too much pressure this year, but they should have the ball-handlers to make it work. Both of these teams are great at taking care of the ball, but even better at forcing turnovers. FSU is first in forced turnover rate, while Texas A&M is 12th. Something is going to have to give.

Texas A&M was dominating UCF until UCF started to show pressure in the final ten minutes, forcing 7 turnovers in that span. If FSU can force 16+ in this game while only turning it over 10 or fewer times, they'll give themselves a great chance of winning this game.

Defense Has to be On Point

To that point, FSU has to be contesting shots. Texas A&M plays a similar style of offense to FSU: a lot of threes and a lot of pace. They're making 37.1% of their threes and 57.9% of their twos while also getting to the free-throw line a lot.

Even outside of forcing turnovers, Florida State has to play smart, sound defense. They can get handsy when trying to force turnovers (looking at you, Robert McCray V and Lajae Jones), so they've gotta focus on not fouling, as well. If Oklahoma State can keep Texas A&M's three-point shooting down, FSU can, too.

Game Prediction

I actually like Florida State quite a bit in this matchup. These teams play very similarly, with a lot of the same focuses, but FSU has been a little bit better in their execution. They've found ways to win when the shots aren't falling, and they have the ability to make those shots fall.

Texas A&M has to win a game against a power conference opponent eventually, but I'll take the Seminoles in an up-tempo battle.

Florida State 85, Texas A&M 80

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