The last time Texas A&M men’s basketball was trailing at the end of regulation, it lost to UCF on Nov. 14, 2025, 86-74. In that game, the Aggies posted 14 turnovers and 15 assists.
“Too many turnovers in that game from our point guards,” head coach Bucky McMillan said after the loss. “We’ve got to cut those turnovers down.”
Just over two months later, A&M ranks 15th in the country and third in the Southeastern Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio as a team, with 1.73 assists for every turnover. The Aggies also lead the conference in total assists and turnover margin.
But what’s behind such a drastic shift? For McMillan, the answer is simple. After being hired by A&M on April 5, 2025 — late in the coaching carousel cycle, after most of the nation’s top transfer portal targets had already committed to programs — and pulling together a team from the transfer portal after having just a single player on the Aggies’ roster, McMillan said that the Maroon and White have simply gotten used to playing with each other after not having much time together.
“Everybody’s playing better knowing how the other players play,” McMillan said after the win over Prairie View on Dec. 29, 2025. “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.”
Against Mississippi State on Jan. 21, A&M committed a season-low three turnovers while gathering 18 assists as a team.
“Three turnovers in a 40-minute SEC basketball game, that’s unheard of,” McMillan said. “You may watch the SEC play all year and not see that happen again with any team.”
As for where those assists are coming from, it’s been a plethora of contributors. Senior guard Jacari Lane led the Aggies with six assists against the Bulldogs and is the team leader in total assists this season with 78. But five Aggies have recorded 40-plus assists so far this year.
When asked, Lane credited A&M’s impressive assist-to-turnover ratio to the fact that the Aggies have grown closer over the past few months.
“We got put together last-minute, kind of,” Lane said at a media availability before the game against South Carolina. “We’ve been together these past six, seven months, and we’ve just been gelling, connecting throughout these months. And obviously, it shows on the court. We’re not just close on the court, but off the court as well.”
It hasn’t just been the Aggies’ backcourt that’s been racking up assists. Graduate student forward Rashaun Agee — who already leads A&M in scoring, blocks and rebounds — has collected 41 assists so far this season, including five against Mississippi State.
Senior G Rylan Griffen said that Agee plays a major role in facilitating the Aggies’ offense.
“Mr. All-SEC over here, he set two good screens and got me open,” Griffen said after the win over the Bulldogs. “And that’s another reason he’s All-SEC. … You see the night he had, 23 and 10, which is normal. We’re not even surprised by that no more. But he really runs the offense, too.”
Agee, for his part, said that the chemistry he’s been able to develop with sophomore G Rubén Dominguez — who leads A&M in 3-pointers made with 66 — has been part of that success.
“If we draw something up or if me and Rubén see something, we make eye contact, it’s going to happen,” Agee said after the win over Oklahoma on Jan. 10. “Like, it’s just natural.”
When the Aggies take the court against the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Jan. 31, A&M will be facing its polar opposite. The Bulldogs are 11th in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Aggies will need to rely on their chemistry as they look to improve to 6-1 in SEC play and extend their lead in the conference standings.
