One can only learn so much from college basketball played in October. But for anyone in the crowd at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg for Texas A&M men’s basketball’s showdown against Arizona State at The Preview CBB Exhibition, one thing was clear: Playing Bucky Ball at the power-conference level works.
The Aggies took down the Sun Devils 95-88 thanks to coach Bucky McMillan’s up-tempo, full-send, high-possession style of play. A&M put up 60 shots from the field and had another 38 attempts from the free-throw line.
“We were not making many threes in the first half, and we obviously missed a lot later,” McMillan said. “But you know, we did a good job fighting through that because there’s gonna be nights where you just can’t finish like you normally do or make shots. And we just kept leaning and hanging around, hanging to the end of the game.”
Jayhawk jamboree
A&M’s biggest contributors on offense came from an unexpected place: Lawrence, Kansas. The Aggies’ two former Kansas Jayhawks — graduate student forward Zach Clemence and senior guard Rylan Griffen — combined for 36 points off the bench. Clemence led the Aggies with 20 points, 16 of which came from beyond the arc, while Griffen’s 16 ranked second on the team.
Despite not being in the starting lineup, Griffen took charge in the first half, hitting on both of his 3-point attempts to lead the Aggies with eight points at the halftime break. Clemence, meanwhile, took control late in the game, connecting on all four of his second-half shots from deep — including a dagger that put A&M up 93-85 with 0:50 left in the game.
When asked about the duo’s history, Clemence credited their success against the Sun Devils to their shared time in Lawrence. That’s something especially valuable as the Aggies’ roster — which featured just one returner from last year’s team — seeks to build chemistry.
“One hundred percent, me and Rylan at Kansas, made a move over here, you know, we did good tonight,” Clemence said. “And yeah, it’s for sure someone I knew coming in here.”
Scoring by committee
With two of A&M’s most touted transfers — junior G Pop Isaacs and junior F Mackenzie Mgbako — each not suiting up, the Aggies relied on a plethora of players to step up around its former Jayhawk duo.
“Our team, one of the things we do have is depth, even though two of our leading scorers are out right now, we have depth,” McMillan said. “I think this team, the deal will be different guys every night stepping up. And tonight on the offensive end, it was Zach’s night.”
While the Aggies’ sharpshooters will likely grab most of the headlines, graduate student F Federiko Federiko — the 6-foot-11 Finnish transfer from Texas Tech — had 11 points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting night, including a highlight-reel-worthy slam dunk that sent the 12th Man contingent who made the trip down Highway 99 to their feet.
Federiko also shot seven free throws, as the Aggies made it a point to get to the charity stripe — something they were able to do 38 times.
“Late in the game, teams that are going to win, they can get to the line, right?” McMillan said. “We’re going to play a high-possession game. That’s just how we play. So the fouls are going to be up there. We don’t want to foul, but we want to have that high-possession game where we’re putting them in foul trouble because there’s more possessions than a normal game.”
A&M had nine players record points, something that will be sure to give fans confidence heading into the regular season. With the last-minute, motley crew of a roster that McMillan was forced to assemble after being hired in early April after many players in the transfer portal had already signed with new teams playing its first meaningful minutes together, having a variety of players find their way into the box score is something McMillan likes to see.
“Most of the teams I’ve coached were 10 to 11 deep,” McMillan said. “ … It’s somebody’s night one night, somebody’s night the next night. But my whole deal is you can be out there as long as you can play it, as hard as you can play it unselfish.”
Growing chemistry
At times, the Aggies looked exactly like a new-look roster playing an exhibition game. A&M had 11 first-half turnovers, which led to 12 Arizona State points. The Maroon and White were able to clean that up a bit in the second half by only recording seven, but the chemistry issues are to be expected given the team’s lack of time together.
“Every team I think, in the first game, three things usually happen,” McMillan said. “Turnovers, bad shots and too many fouls. That’s usually what happens in every first game, every team that I’ve ever coached. Doesn’t matter how much we talk about it. … Not for the wrong reasons, just so amped up to play.”
But in the second half, the Aggies came alive. What started as a wild, free-for-all attack turned into a ballroom blitz as A&M refined its full-court press and improved its 3-point percentage from 36% in the first half to 45% by the game’s end.
If A&M can improve that quickly on a neutral floor against a Big 12 opponent — one who was admittedly shorthanded and missing its own share of contributors, but a power conference team nonetheless — keep a close eye on how it’ll smooth things out against Southland Conference opponent Northwestern State, who it’ll face on Monday, Nov. 3, to begin the regular season at Reed Arena.
