In what isn’t always a guarantee for a first-year head coach in the Southeastern Conference, Texas A&M men’s basketball managed to close out non-conference play without a loss to a mid-major opponent with the Aggies’ 111-82 win over the Prairie View Panthers on Monday, Dec. 29 at Reed Arena.
It was the Aggies third straight 110-plus point performance and the sixth time this year that A&M has surpassed the century mark.
“These games always scare me, right around the holidays,” coach Bucky McMillan said. “ … I was proud of our guys getting it done. You know, we shared the ball pretty good. … Ready for SEC play. Man, can’t wait for it to be here Saturday. We need a good crowd.”
It was a performance filled with all the more pressure following the news that junior forward Mackenzie Mgbako — someone that McMillan called one of the Aggies’ best shooters earlier this year — would be out for the remainder of the season after re-fracturing a foot injury that has limited him to just seven games this season, as first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein before the game.
“This will be something when he’s back healthy, he’ll be good as new,” McMillan said. “What a soldier, though, for battling, trying to fight through that for this team. And as much as he wants to be out here, you obviously can’t play with a broken foot.”
The Aggies held a comfortable 14-5 lead at the first media timeout as part of an 18-2 run that forced the Panthers to call a timeout with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half, after fifth year guard Ali Dibba followed up graduate student F Rashaun Agee’s tip-in layup with a steal and score that grew the Maroon and White’s lead to 23-7.
THAT. That is Bucky Ball in its true form.@alidibbz steal & score.#GigEm pic.twitter.com/WFy0KHEwi3
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) December 30, 2025
A&M statistically dominated the first half, leading by as many as 29 points before a small Prairie View scoring run cut the gap down to 60-39 at halftime.
The Aggies shot 68% in the opening half compared to the Panthers’ 41%, while Agee led all scorers with 15 points, including eight off of a pair of 3-pointers sandwiched by another layup for a quick 8-3 run all by his lonesome late in the first half.
Agee finished the night with his first double-double since A&M’s loss to SMU earlier this month, posting 19 points and 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes on the court. Graduate student G Marcus Hill added 16 points of his own, along with a pair of assists and a steal.
Turnovers were the Aggies’ one weak spot in the first frame, as they had seven compared to the Panthers’ six. The Maroon and White did manage to pick up 12 steals for the game, leading to 21 points off of Panther turnovers.
The second half was a typical showing for a blowout non-conference game, but the big lead allowed the Aggies to reach deep onto their bench. That depth is something they’ll likely need to rely on, especially in the frontcourt with Mgbako out for the year.
But McMillan says the Aggies have grown over the course of non-conference play across the board.
“Everybody’s playing better, knowing how the other players play,” McMillan said. “Like, ‘How can I do what I do well to help the team?’ and then, ‘How can I help the others do what they do well to help the team?’ Early in the season, I don’t think a lot of guys knew what they could do well to help the team. They didn’t even know half of their teammates’ names.”
Next, A&M opens SEC play against LSU at Reed Arena on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 3 p.m.. Junior G Pop Isaacs said that the Aggies feel they are ready for the challenge.
“It’s not about to be peaches and cream when we go into conference,” Isaacs said. “We’re gonna have some highs, we’re gonna have some lows, and it’s just about can we stay consistent through those and still be ourselves and still have our identity through those things? But overall, I feel like we’re ready. I think we’re excited.”
