Takeaways from Mizzou Men's Basketball's Bleak Loss to Texas A&M
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team lost their 10th-straight game Wednesday night, this time a 19-point loss to Texas A&M.
Absence of East Leaves Offense Directionless
In the hours before the contest, Missouri announced that guard Sean East II would be missing the game due to a knee contusion he suffered against Vanderbilt. Coming into Thursday night, East was the Tigers' leading scorer with 15.6 points per game. Without East, the Tigers' offensive compass was broken.
"It's almost like we have to play perfect basketball to win, with the injuries we have and the margin for error being so thin," coach Dennis Gates said.
The graduate guard is not only one of Missouri's top offensive playmakers but also a great facilitator. East's presence elevates the play of every other Missouri player on the court.
There was a stretch early in the second half where Missouri put together a 19-9 run to put themselves back into the game, but outside of those eight minutes, there weren't many bright spots for the Missouri offense. The only reason that run was necessary to give Missouri a chance was due to a 16-2 run Texas A&M sustained in the final seven minutes of the first half.
Following the run early in the second half, Missouri just looked gassed. Gates has been known to utilize the depth of his roster. Without East, who was averaging 33.2 minutes per game, Gates' had to significantly shorten his roster.
"When you got guys playing as hard as our guys did, you have to kind of give them a sort of break at some point," Gates said. "I tried to get in subs in in between certain timeouts but we got caught in a couple of situations where I had to get a fresh guy in and sometimes the lineup wasn't a conducive lineup for some of our offensive rotations because we were limited."
Some Tigers stepped up in East's absence, but not enough. Graduate guard Nick Honor scored a season-high 19 points, including nine from outside the arc. Tamar Bates, Missouri's second leading scorer, put up 20. But Honor and Bates were responsible for 82% of Missouri's points. Wednesday night probably would look different for Missouri had East been on the court.
Turnovers Plague Missouri
On Tuesday, coach Dennis Gates said that on an ideal night, his team would have under seven turnovers.
By the end of the first half on Wednesday, the Tigers already had eight.
Missouri was able to clean this up early in the second half, a main contributor to their sudden offensive success. But as the ball continued to slip away from their hands, so did the game.
"I'm a give credit to the (Texas A&M) defense because our guys aren't trying to make those mistakes," Gates said.
After Missouri brought the game within six, the Tigers gave up four more turnovers that floundered their comeback efforts. 12 total turnovers on the night isn't an atrocious night, but it gave Texas A&M 24 extra points and quickly wrecked Missouri's offensive rhythm.
Part of this, again, can be chalked up to East's absence. He acts as the team's traffic conductor and coach on the court to orchestrate plays.
"You definitely gonna miss that, a guy who can really do it all, create for others and create for himself," Honor said.
Discrepancy on Rebounds and Free-Throw Opportunities
When asked what the biggest difference maker was that separated Texas A&M from Missouri, coach Gates narrowed it down to two main battles; Missouri's lack of offensive rebounds and trips to the free-throw line.
Statistically, Texas A&M is the second best rebounding team in the SEC. That was evident Wednesday night when the Tigers lost the battle for their offensive boards 5-16. Missouri was only able to score five second chance points while Texas A&M scored 15.
The Aggies' leading rebounder was Andersson Garcia, who had eight rebounds on each side of the court for 16 total. Gates highlighted his performance, saying that he couldn't even remember the last time a Missouri player rebounded in the double digits.
Gates also highlighted the lack of opportunities from the free-throw line, stating that it was a significant factor to the lack of offensive production. Missouri went 9-for-13 from the charity stripe while Texas A&M went 15-for-19.
The Tigers next opportunity for their first SEC win will come Saturday when they host Mississippi State.
