More improvement is A&M's goal in Monday's non-conference finale

The goal for Texas A&M entering its final non-conference basketball game is pretty simple.

“We’ve got to get better,” Aggies coach Bucky McMillan said.

More specifically, he wants to see the Aggies (9-3) show improvement in rebounding and defense when facing Prairie View (5-7) on Monday night at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.

The Aggies were explosive in a 118-77 victory over East Texas A&M last week. They shot 64.9 percent from the field en route to reaching triple digits for the fifth time.

McMillan, though, was uncomfortable with A&M allowing 77 points and giving up 35 rebounds, 15 of which were on the offensive end.

“Rebounding and guarding the ball one-on-one has got to be a focus for us,” he said. “(We must) Continue to move in the right direction.

“All sports can be more complicated than people make it. It’s just pretty simple — play as hard as you can and play unselfish. If you do that, you’re pretty good.”

The Aggies have indeed been pretty good. Guard Rubén Dominguez is averaging a team-high 13.7 points. Forward Rashaun Agee averages 12.3 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Rashaun Agee has four double-doubles through his first 12 games as an Aggie.

Guards Marcus Hill and Rylan Griffen and forward Mackenzie Mgbako are averaging in double figures, too.

But Prairie View may be better than its modest record indicates.

The Panthers fell to LSU, 104-90, last week. They led by as many as 10 points in the second half. The score was tied with just over 12 minutes remaining.

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph, who scored 34 vs. LSU, is ranked among the nation’s top 20 in scoring with an average of 22.2 points per game.

Guards Joey Madimba and Dontae Horne and forward Cory Wells also average in double figures.

They’ll be challenged to keep up with A&M, which is averaging 95 points to rank fourth in the nation in scoring.

The Aggies also are sixth in the nation with 11.7 3-point goals per game.

Dominguez and Griffen lead the charge at the arc, but A&M has also gotten a recent boost from guard Pop Isaacs, who hit five times from 3-point range in the last game.

“Obviously, he’s a threat,” McMillan said of Isaacs. “He makes big shots. Some of these shots that he makes sometimes in the SEC, they may be the only ones you can get off at times because the coverage is so tight.”