Bucky McMillan comments on ‘season-defining’ win over Ole Miss
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Earlier this month, the Texas A&M Aggies were alone atop the SEC basketball standings. They were a projected No. 7 seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. If there were a breakup competition between them and Buzz Williams, they were clearly winning.
Then the Aggies lost four straight games. They slipped to a No. 10 seed and one of Lunardi’s last four byes in Bracketology. And on Wednesday, they trailed Ole Miss — who entered action 3-9 in SEC play — by 10 points with less than 8 minutes remaining in regulation.
A loss would have knocked them even closer to the bubble. But they battled back, outscoring the Rebels 19-6 over the final 6:43 to pull out what head coach Bucky McMillan labeled a “season-defining win.”
“When you think you’re down and out, who’s going to step up?” McMillan asked postgame. “People are going to say Ole Miss doesn’t have a great record, but I don’t care. That’s a good team. That was a great win and a season-defining win for us. That was a must-win game.”
The Aggies’ win probability dipped as low as 9.2% on Wednesday night. But Ruben Dominguez (9 points in final 6:43), Zach Clemence (6) and Rashaun Agee (4) all provided key buckets down the stretch to carry McMillan’s squad to victory.
As mentioned above, the Aggies are still dangerously close to the bubble. Here’s a look at Texas A&M’s probability to reach the big dance after last night’s win:
Texas A&M (18-8, 8-5 SEC) travels to Oklahoma on Saturday (8:30 p.m. E.T., SEC Network) looking for a second straight win. Earlier that afternoon, Ole Miss (11-15, 3-10 SEC) will try to end its 8-game losing skid versus Florida (12:00 p.m. E.T., ESPN).
