Click here to view Texas A&M’s Monday press conference.
Following a costly basketball loss to arch-rival Texas, players for Texas A&M received a message from a distinguished source.
A&M alum Khris Middleton, a three-time NBA All-Star and NBA champion, addressed the Aggies after falling 76-70 on Saturday.
“Middleton talked to our team after last game,” A&M coach Bucky McMilan said. “He said, being in the league, what you learn is, after a game, you’ve got to fix it and move on. Fix it and move on.”
The Aggies (19-10, 9-7) need to get a few things fixed before facing Kentucky (19-10, 10-6) in a vital Southeastern Conference encounter on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT inside Reed Arena.
A&M has fallen in six of its last eight games, but a few tweaks could serve as a bungee cord to propel the Aggies back toward NCAA Tournament contention.
Those needed repairs include finishing at the rim and converting more shots from 3-point range.
McMillan said A&M converted just 11 of 23 shots at the rim in the loss to Texas. The Aggies, who rely heavily on 3-point shooting, also converted just five of 19 shots from behind the arc. Two of the makes were in the final 45 seconds when the outcome was already decided.
“I wouldn’t say we lost the game from the 3-point line,” McMillan said. “But we went 11 of 23 at the rim. You should be making shots at the rim at minimum 60 percent. We missed two dunks. We missed several layups.
“You’re not going to make every three. … We have some shooters that make some of the threes that they missed.”
Guards Rubén Dominguez and Rylan Griffen and forward Zach Clemence are among A&M’s best 3-point shooters. But they combined to hit just 1-of-8 shots from 3-point range. The one make was scored with just five seconds to play.
McMillan hinted that some changes might be made in the lineup.
“You’ve got to get guys on the floor that they’re going to win that matchup that night,” he said. “Whatever that means. It could be lineup. It could be minutes.”
That could mean more minutes for guard Pop Isaacs, who came off the bench to hit two treys against the Longhorns. McMillan said Isaacs, who finished with 14 points, had his best game as an Aggie.
“I told him even if you score 30 points a game, that’s the best game he’s ever played,” McMillan said. “His effort and tenacity and heart was winning basketball. He was out there on a mission.”
Isaacs said the Aggies’ mission vs. Kentucky is to fine-tune the “little things.”
“I feel like we’re not doing the little things to the best of our abilities right now,” Isaacs said. “Coach feels the same way. It’s not like we’re super far off. But we have to be able to control things we can control on the court. All the little things.”
The Aggies need to do whatever is required. They’re facing a must-win scenario to boost their fading March Madness aspirations.
That’s a difficult situation to be in, especially when one of the nation’s most storied basketball programs is next on the schedule.
This isn’t a vintage Kentucky team. The Wildcats have sustained surprising SEC losses to Georgia, Auburn and Florida and barely escaped LSU with a 75-74 victory.
But they’re also coming off a 91-77 victory over Vanderbilt.
Kentucky is led by preseason SEC Player of the Year Otega Oweh, who averages 17.7 points. Guards Denzel Aberdeen and Collin Chandler also average in double figures.
While the Wildcats are guard-oriented, they can go inside to 7-foot center Malachi Moreno, who was just named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week.
But McMillan indicated he wants the Aggies to be even more focused on themselves than Kentucky. He wants them to remember when they were shooting hoops as kids, dreaming about playing games like this.
“Now it’s time step up here with the courage and the conviction that ‘I’ve worked for this,’ and let it rip,” McMillan said.
