COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Texas A&M men’s basketball head coach Bucky McMillan certainly isn’t an M.D., but the illness that plagued Aggie guard Rylan Griffen still has the coach scratching his head.
Whatever bug the senior caught sidelined him for nine days, which kept him out of A&M’s wins over Mississippi Valley State and Florida State.
“What kind of strain of flu is that?” McMillan joked Sunday. “Is that like the Alpha flu? Just absolutely takes you out?”
As the Aggies returned home for the remainder of the calendar year Sunday, Griffen looked more like his healthy self in A&M’s 112-75 win over Jacksonville in Reed Arena.
Griffen led all Aggie scorers with 19 points, including a 5 of 6 clip from 3-point range. As his stat line proved, Griffen feels back to his normal self, he said.
“I was kind of rough, because I wanted to play and help my team, but I couldn’t really breathe, had aches all over the place, was weak,” Griffen said Sunday. “So, it took me a while to get actually back to where I was. I didn’t feel as strong as I was before until this week, till this game.”
Here’s the game rundown:
Why did A&M win? The Aggies (8-3) had their best shooting performance of the season against the Dolphins (5-6), with what forward Jamie Vinson said was their best offensive inside-out game of the year.
Ultimately, it was a 12-0 run through the late minutes of the first half that put the game out of reach. Guard Ali Dibba had seven of his 10 points during that run.
The Aggies shot 63.6% from the field in the opening frame, including a 58.3% clip from behind the arc.
Griffen posted 13 of his 19 points in the second half as the Aggies pushed their lead to as many as 49 midway through the third quarter.
The Aggies finished the game hitting 59.2% of their shots, which bested the previous high mark of 58.2% the Aggies hit against Manhattan. A&M hit 48% of its 3-point attempts in the game, which is second only to the 48.6% mark also set against Manhattan.
A&M also dished out 27 assists in the game, which falls second on the season, to date.
“It means we’re getting in better shape and we’re passing the ball well,” McMillan said of the shooting performance. “If you pass the ball well, you’re going to inevitably shoot the ball better and you’re going to score more.”
Who stood out? Beyond Griffen, A&M had four other players finish with double-digit points.
Vinson posted 14, followed by Mackenzie Mgbako with 13. Mgbako also led the Aggies in rebounding with eight.
Guard Marcus Hill finished with 12 points, five assists and five rebounds in the game. Ruben Dominguez rounded out the 10-plus scorers with 10 points, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range.
Jacksonville’s Jason Thirdkill Jr. had a team-high 19 points.
What was a key stat? A&M crossed the 100-point plateau for the fourth time this season, all of which have come at Reed Arena. The Aggies’ 112 points is the second highest this season, behind the 120 netted against Mississippi Valley State.
What’s next? The Aggies host East Texas A&M at 3 p.m. on Dec. 21.
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