No. 20 Mizzou Blown Out By Texas A&M
Coming off of a heartbreaking road loss against top-15 ranked Arkansas followed by a down-to-the-wire victory against Vanderbilt, Missouri Tigers basketball set its sights for a convincing road win against Texas A&M — who entered the game at third place in the SEC standings.
Instead of earning the win they were hoping for, the Tigers could not find their rhythm, limping their way to an 82-64 defeat. The biggest bright spot for the Tigers came from senior forward Kobe Brown, who caused some trouble for the Aggie defense.
Brown showed exactly why the Tiger offense has been consistently ranked first in the country Wednesday night, getting off to a strong start early. Scoring 10 of the team’s first 12 points, Brown proved the point of Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV, who said pregame that the Aggies had not faced a team as fast as Missouri.
The senior finished the half with 10 points and four rebounds, which was the good news.
The bad news was that the Tigers recorded their season low of first-half points, with only 25.
They also allowed the second most points in a half to the Aggies and allowed Texas A&M junior guard Hayden Hefner to score 12 points — his second most this season — in the first half alone.
Coming out of the break losing 43-25, the Tigers looked once again to Brown, but could not get him going again. Graduate guard D’Moi Hodge led the second half scoring, tallying 10 points and six rebounds, but once again the Tigers struggled to find their rhythm.
The Tigers ramped up their intensity on defense in an effort to slow down the Aggies, adding a full-court press to their game plan. The extra pressure turned into 11 Aggie turnovers in the first 10 minutes of second-half play — which the Tigers capitalized on to cut the lead to 4 entering the back half of the second.
A series of drawn fouls and made free throws later by the Tigers, combined with an 11-point second-half performance by Taylor, which brought his game total to 14, erased that, however, and the Aggies went on to win 82-64 — marking the lowest point total from Missouri all season.
The Tigers now sit at 13-3 on the season and just .500 in SEC play — a number they would like to see higher. Their next game comes on the road against the Florida Gators — who also sit at 2-2, and is a must-win for the Tigers, who want to get back in the winning column, looking to do so on Jan. 14 at 2:30 p.m.
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