Texas A&M’s streak of 11 wins in the last 12 basketball games, including three to start Southeastern Conference play, is generating ambitious conversation.
Suddenly, there’s talk about the Aggies being a contender in the SEC race and for March Madness.
It’s getting deep around here. But that’s a big reason for the Aggies’ success.
Not the talk. The depth.
The Aggies (13-3, 3-0) have capitalized on a deep bench. They’re second in the nation in bench scoring at 41.2 points per game.
In their three SEC victories, A&M’s bench outscored LSU 29-18, Auburn 32-21 and Oklahoma 26-9.
“We’ve got strength in numbers,” coach Bucky McMilan told TexAgs Live on Monday. “Our first five (lineup) is a good first five, but our 10 is better than our five. If we had to play 10-on-10, I love our 10, so we’re going to use our depth any way we can.”
“Our first five (lineup) is a good first five, but our 10 is better than our five. If we had to play 10-on-10, I love our 10, so we’re going to use our depth any way we can.”
- Texas A&M head basketball coach Bucky McMillan
The Aggies hope to continue using depth to their advantage on Tuesday night when they face No. 24 Tennessee (11-5, 1-2) in Knoxville in a 6 p.m. CT contest.
The fifth-highest scoring team in the nation with a 93.7 average, A&M has relied heavily on starters Rubén Dominguez (13.7 points), Rashaun Agee (13.3 points, 8.6 rebounds), Marcus Hill (11.4 points) and Rylan Griffen (10.7).
However, they’ve gotten a huge boost from Pop Isaacs, who is averaging 10.3 points off the bench. Isaacs has scored in double figures in each of the last five games.
Also, guard Ali Dibba is emerging as a threat off the bench. Dibba had 12 points vs. LSU and nine vs. Auburn.
But the bench’s impact isn’t limited to points. The depth allows A&M to play the relentlessly suffocating defense that has frequently forced opponents to wilt down the stretch.
Will Huffman, TexAgs
Pop Isaacs is averaging 15.0 points per game in SEC play.
“A lot of what we do is playing hard because if you’re not playing hard, what we do doesn’t work,” McMillan said. “And if you’re not playing hard, you're not wearing anybody down. We trust our bench.”
The Aggies likely will need another full-team effort to get past Tennessee, which is one of the top rebounding teams in the country.
Boosted by 6-foot-10 forward Nate Ament (14.9, 6.4), 6-foot-11 forward J.P. Estrella (13.7, 9.7) and 6-foot-8 Jaylen Carey (9.3, 6.3), Tennessee is 20th nationally in overall rebounding, ninth in offensive rebounding and sixth in rebounding margin.
“They’re big and bad,” McMillan said. “They lead the country in offensive rebound rate. We’re gonna have to really fight to not let them play ping pong with the ball off the glass.”
But the Aggies have shown they won’t back down from a fight.
“There’s tenacity to our group and a togetherness to our group. They’re a true team,” McMillan said. “These guys really care about each other and care about winning. You see a different look in that eye.”
In 20 eyes, to be exact.
