Bucky McMillan and company are back in action on Sunday afternoon as they travel up to Arlington to take on the SMU Mustangs. The Aggies enter the contest with a 7-2 record and looking for their 6th straight win, 3rd straight against power conference opponents. SMU comes into the contest with an 8-1 record, looking to make it 9-1 on the season.
This will be the last power conference opponent the Aggies will face prior to conference play. With SMU's current NET ranking in the top 50, this could be the first Quad 1 win of the season for the Aggies. If the Mustangs were to win, this would currently count as a Quad 2 win on their resume.
The Aggies will come into the game with four players averaging double figures in scoring. Ruben Dominguez leads the team with 15.9 points per game with Rashaun Agee, Marcus Hill and Rylan Griffen close behind. Rashaun Agee has stepped up to be a dominant rebounder for the team. He is averaging 7.9 boards per game, with 17 and 13 in his last two games. There is currently a 3-way tie for the team's assists leader between Rylan Griffen, Josh Holloway, and Jacari Lane, each with 3.3 assists per game.
Texas A&M basketball faces massive opportunity against SMU
What will be the keys to the Aggie's succes on Sunday? Their middle-tier scorers will need to step up. And most importantly Mackenzie Mgbako and Pop Isaacs. They both have the ability to take over games, and this team can't continuously rely on hot shooting by Dominguez to bail them out.
Defensively, the Aggies will be keying in on two SMU players. Boopie Millier leads the team with over 20 points per game while Jaron Pierre Jr is close behind with over 17 points per game. The Aggies will need to continue to force turnovers while also defending the perimeter. That combination has worked in the past two games, no reason it can't work again.
Check back on Sunday night for my instant postgame reaction and analysis of Aggie's matchup against SMU.