NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - TEXAS A&M VS SAINT MARY'S

March 18, 2026

Pop Isaacs

Rylan Griffen

Rashaun Agee

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Texas A&M Aggies

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have from Texas A&M junior guard Pop Isaacs, senior guard, Rylan Griffen, and graduate forward Rashaun Agee. We'll open it up to questions.

Q. Rashaun, you being the team leader, how have you seen this team respond the last few days coming off that SEC tournament, and where do you feel like you guys are right now?

RASHAUN AGEE: I feel like we're in a great position. We have picked it up in practice, and I feel like our defense average has picked up. We're just together. At the end of the day, we understand what each game matters to us. We know that it's one game at a time, and we got to come in and do what we got to do.

Q. Rylan, after what y'all have been through this year and recently, why do you think y'all can be confident coming into this confident that you're going to be able to win and advance and have success?

RYLAN GRIFFEN: Because in the conference we played in the No. 1 conference in the country. We finished tied for fourth in there. We know we can compete with anybody. We know even in some of our losses, they were very, very close games, one-possession games. We know we can compete with anybody. In these games, these tournament games, you have to play your best basketball, so being confident is really, really big for us.

Q. Rashaun, what have you noticed about St. Mary's and just the size that they bring in their bigs and what they bring to the table there?

RASHAUN AGEE: I mean, we know St. Mary's is a great team. Obviously we're bringing two 7'1"s, one starting and one coming off the bench. It's going to be a great factor for them. But we just know what we have to do, and we understand the things that we have to do is very important.

But, I mean, they're a big team. 6'8" forward. We just have to take care of what we have to take care of.

Q. I know you played against St. Mary's last season in a game. I'm sure you probably don't want to recollect a lot, but have you told your teammates about that game and what St. Mary's can bring?

RASHAUN AGEE: No, I haven't brought it up. I mean, I'm going to talk about it, but I be trying not to talk about it.

Q. Follow-up then for any of the guys: In basketball there's the thought, when a fast team plays a slower-paced team, which is easier to impose its will? Is it easier for the faster-paced team to impose its will on a slower-paced team or vice versa?

RYLAN GRIFFEN: I think, regardless, it's a tough match-up, whether we was playing fast or slow. It's going to be a tough match-up either way.

We played against different types of teams all year, and they were different match-ups all year. We know that they're a very, very good team and they play a very good style of basketball for them, and it's going to be a tough match-up regardless how they want to play, regardless how we want to play.

Q. I'm curious where y'all kind of think you have an edge in this game.

RYLAN GRIFFEN: I mean, it's going to be a tough match-up. I wouldn't say that we have an edge at all. It's going to be a really tough match-up. We're the lower seed, so we're kind of the underdog, but it's going to be a really, really tough match-up regardless. I wouldn't say we have an edge at all. It's going to be really, really tough.

Q. For Pop Isaacs, Pop, in the year you've been here, have you got an idea of what kind of player Bucky might have been when he was playing? Do you have an idea how he would have approached the game?

POP ISAACS: Yeah, I know he liked to play fast. He liked to press, but yeah, I mean, Coach, we know he played a little bit. He talks about it with us a little bit. He could really shoot the ball. He's actually a really good player. He has some good size on him when he get up close to him, too.

No, he was a thinker of the game. He processed things really fast, and he could really shoot the ball. You could see him now sometimes out there when he is shooting with us, he has a really good stroke, so...

Q. Rylan, you mentioned being the underdog. Does that mentality help you or hurt you guys in any type of way heading into tomorrow?

RYLAN GRIFFEN: I definitely think it helps us. That's how we should be going into any of these games. These are single-elimination games. While we feel like that and we have to come out with a different type of edge, they're going to come out the same way, because it's win or go home right now. Regardless of if we are or aren't, we have to come out like our life is on the line, because it's win or go home right now.

Q. Rylan, you're a guy who has had a good amount of experience playing in the NCAA Tournament and winning. I'm curious what you've maybe encouraged your guys with of how to approach this at varying levels of experience in the postseason and what it takes to win at this level.

RYLAN GRIFFEN: I haven't said too much. I'm gonna say more closer to the game. I'm just trying to learn the opponent and stuff like that. I would just say that every possession matters. They're all really, really close games, and every possession, everybody is going to play like their life is on the line. You got to pay attention to more details, shorter scouts, stuff like that. You just got to be even more locked in than normal.

You can't get too high or too low in any game. You can't. If you are down 15, you can't get too low. If you're up 15, you can't get too high. It's going to be a hard-fought battle until the clock is 0:00. That's all you got to know going into these games. Nothing is going to be easy. You have to earn wins, and that's what we plan to do.

Q. Pop, I was curious, if I'm not mistaken, you had originally signed or committed to Houston. What went into that sort of process, because they announced it, and I believe then you maybe switched to Texas A&M. Can you kind of take us through what the process was there?

POP ISAACS: Yeah, I mean, obviously I did sign with Houston out of the portal originally. Actually, one of my best friends, Milo, was at Houston, ended up coming back to school. Once he came back to school, it was just kind of -- not even necessarily a crowded guard room, but they had their guys.

I pivoted. I mean, it was going on for a few days. I had some conversations with Bucky. I had some conversation with a few other schools. I thought it made perfect sense to come to A&M. I thought it fit me, and I knew we had a chance to win if I would have came to A&M. I'm happy with my decision. I'm glad it worked out for all parties, I believe, so...