Texas A&M Basketball Is Trending In Right Direction, Despite 2OT Loss

We’ve come a long way.

Those are the words coach Bucky McMillan has used multiple times, and he's been saying them since his group first started playing together. There have been great strides, despite the tough heartbreakers that could have resulted in Quadrant 1 wins.

Tennessee realized that “Bucky Ball” is for real and has come a long way because they were almost knocked off at home, and everyone inside Thompson-Boling knew it wasn’t a great shooting performance by either side.

At halftime, the Aggies led 34-30 against the Volunteers, allowing only three 3-pointers in the first half before making three more in the second half. What made it more interesting at the end was that the Volunteers won the rebound battle with 36 defensive rebounds and 24 offensive rebounds, but the Aggies still fought to the end, despite being undersized.

“We’re trending in the right direction versus a good team, and we’re gonna win those a lot more than we’re gonna lose them if we keep doing that,” McMillan said.

Production

A&M has had numerous players who have continued to step up when it is not always someone else’s night. Against Tennessee, that player was North Alabama transfer Jacari Lane, who put his team in a prime position to escape with a win. The senior from Huntsville, Alabama, had 20 points on an evening when the offense struggled to make shots at times.

“Cari’s a winner,” McMillan said. “He’s playing great, he’ll keep playing great.”

Other than Lane, it was forward Rashaun Agee who was the leader in rebounds for the Aggies with nine reeled in. Creighton transfer Pop Isaacs has been improving over the last several months since his injury, with 16 points, six rebounds, and four 3-pointers.

The Volunteers’ defense struggled to stop the best shooter from deep for the Aggies, and that was Ruben Dominguez, the player everyone wants to have the ball in his hands if a three-pointer is needed.

Entering the evening, he was the best player in the SEC from deep and ranked No. 10 in the country, making 3.6 3-pointers per game. He proved why he is a force to reckon with, concluding with four 3’s on his 11 attempts. From downtown, A&M finished with 13 made 3-pointers off of 43 attempts.

Defensively, A&M’s production has also grown since the guys first started playing with each other. To go into a hostile arena that is hard to win in and still force Tennessee to shoot under 40 percent speaks to the culture the coaching staff and players are building.

“You hold a team to under 40 percent from the field on their home floor, that’s a great sign your defense is coming a long way,” McMillan said.

Even though their result doesn’t tell the entire story of how elite the offense and defense are, there is a lot of confidence in the locker room with a leader who continues to make the group better.

“The only thing you can focus on is keep battling,” McMillan said. “Keep getting better every day. We certainly have done that."