High-scoring 'Bucky Ball' style lives up to hype on opening night

Game #1: Texas A&M 98, Northwestern State 68
Records: Texas A&M (1-0, 0-0), Northwestern State (0-1, 0-0)
Box Score

If the Reed Arena debut of “Bucky Ball” is a true example of what’s to come, Texas A&M’s basketball record book could be rewritten in four or five years.

Maybe even sooner. All indications are that new A&M basketball coach Bucky McMillan likes things to happen in a hurry.

The full-court thrill ride known as “Bucky Ball” lived up to the hype on Monday night as A&M sped to a 98-68 season-opening victory over Northwestern State.

The 98-point outburst was more than A&M scored in any game last season. The Aggies' highest scoring output was in a 97-71 victory over Lamar.

Among the highlights:

A&M hit 11 times from 3-point range. The Aggies converted 17 of 23 free throws. They recorded 22 assists. They forced 16 turnovers — 13 via steals — which were parlayed into 24 points.

They also scored 48 points in the paint.

Guard Rubén Dominguez scored a game-high 18 points to lead five players in double figures. A dozen players scored.

TexAgs

Rubén Dominguez led A&M with 18 points on 4-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc.

Not bad for a group of transfers who were playing their first game together in a system that’s new to them.

“I think they grasp what we want to do,” said McMillan, who posted the 100th victory of his collegiate coaching career. “It’s just that we’ve got to get the total intensity up to where it’s sustained for 40 minutes and how we’re going to do it.

“That’s got to be the key. I never had a team, though, for what it’s worth, that I’ve coached that’s had that in the first game of the year. This team is way further ahead with that than I would have expected to have so many new players.”

Forward Rashaun Agee, a transfer from USC who scored 12 points, said the Aggies are comfortable playing McMillan’s style, but acknowledged they can get better.

“I feel like we’ve got it down,” Agee said. “There’s always room for improvement. There’s never a time where I feel like we have a 100 percent success rate. Every day, you want to improve on something. You try to grow and become better.

“For us, doing this for our first year and having a whole new group of guys, we’ve got it down pat. We continue to learn and listen to how he wants us to play.”

Look out for if and when the Aggies get better.

The Aggies were without projected star forward Mackenzie Mgbako, who sat out with an injury. Heralded guard Pop Isaacs was limited to 18 minutes of play. Yet, the outcome was never in doubt in this one.

A&M jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first two minutes and...well…never stopped jumping.

The Aggies steadily increased their lead and pushed the margin out to as much as 25 points in the first half.

Jacari Lane hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Twelve seconds later, Marcus Hill was fouled while getting a steal. He made two free throws.

After a Northwestern State miss, Rylan Griffen found Dominguez open in the corner. Dominguez drilled the triple to cap an 8-0 run in 38 seconds.

The Aggies never really slowed down en route to taking a 56-35 halftime lead.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

On 5-of-6 shooting Josh Holloway had 13 points in his Aggie debut.

By the first automatic timeout of the second half, A&M’s scoring output had reached 71 points. That’s more than the Aggies scored in 14 games last season.

The only suspense in the second half was whether the Aggies would hit the 100-point mark. A late cold spell prevented reaching triple digits.

“We got better tonight. That’s for sure,” McMillan said. “You saw times in that game just unrelenting effort. You know… foot on the gas pedal. Foot on their throat.

“We were like that for most of the game, but dang sure not all of the game. So, our goal for the next game is how do we turn that up?”

The next game is on Thursday with the Aggies playing host to Texas Southern, another opponent they figure to dominate. Maybe then they’ll hit the 100-point mark.

Of course, eventually the going will get tougher. A&M will be tested by better opponents.

But the Aggies figure to get better, too.