Without star Mgbako, Coach McMillan must quickly reinvent the Aggies' strategy, embracing small ball and a new offensive rhythm for SEC battles.
Texas A&M closed non-conference play the way a confident team should ... loud, relentless, and scoring like it's personal.
The Aggies (10-3) ran Prairie View A&M out of Reed Arena Monday night, cruising to a 111-82 win behind senior forward Rashaun Agee's 19 points and 13 rebounds.
A&M shot 54 percent from the field and 37 percent from three, got five players into double figures, and once again looked like a team built to survive the week-to-week grind of SEC basketball.
The ball moved around the floor to the tune of 21 Aggies assists, the pace stayed high, and the rotation stayed active, exactly the kind of rhythm you want before the calendar flips to conference play.
But the feel-good fireworks come with a real problem as first-year head coach Bucky McMillan is now without star transfer forward Mackenzie Mgbako for the rest of the season.
Mgbako averaged more than 10 points and nearly five rebounds, and A&M went 6-1 when he was available.
Now, McMillan's job becomes to reinvent the Aggies' approach without the piece that made the original blueprint work.
The early answer appears to be small ball, and Prairie View served as the first real glimpse of what that can look like. The Aggies stayed fast, played free, and piled up points again.
It also means roles shift, matchups change, and margins get thinner against SEC frontcourts that won't be nearly as forgiving.
McMillan didn’t dance around it after the win, explaining how Mgbako's presence shaped the lineup design from the start, and why the staff now has clarity on what won't work moving forward.
"Mackenzie allowed us to play all our guys in the position we envisioned them when we recruited them. Now I know what we don't want to do with our lineup from going through it the first time without him."
The Aggies are going to have to evolve fast, and they're going to have to lean harder on Agee. That part is obvious.
The other pressure point is on the perimeter, especially Pop Isaacs, who has shown signs of heating up over the last two games.
If A&M is going to thrive with more spacing, more speed, and less traditional size, Isaacs’ shot-making and decision-making become even more valuable.
None of this erases what's still in front of Texas A&M.
The record is strong, the offense is humming, and one injury doesn't get to define the season - unless the team allows it.
McMillan's Aggies now head into SEC play with the same opportunity they had before, just with less room for error and a brand-new chessboard.