Texas A&M Looking to ‘Flush’ Away Losing Streak With Missouri In Town

Loses happen.

For Texas A&M, those two latest losses came against Alabama and Florida, who lost the SEC lead, at least for now.

Fortunately, the Aggies have already been through this before and know that there is plenty of basketball left to play. With losses to the Cowboys and Mustangs earlier in the season, head coach Bucky McMillan continued to believe in his group and told them constantly that they have an identity, regardless of the outcome on the court.

The same applies to Wednesday night when Missouri visits Reed Arena.

“You can be short-term and forget that a week before, we played a great game and three days before that we played an awesome game as well,” McMillan said. “We just got to play like we’ve been playing.”

Testy Tigers

Going into the second straight home game for A&M, Missouri hits the road, where it has had an up-and-down season in the win-loss column, with wins against powerhouse teams and some losses against the lower half of the league.

Entering the evening with a ton of playmakers, the program has a 17-6 overall record and a 6-4 conference record. Their big wins were against Florida and Kentucky, while their bad losses came against Ole Miss and LSU.

“They play well on the road,” McMillan said. “The SEC is a gauntlet.”

Regardless of their resume, the Tigers have found shooters who can put together a full 40 minutes against tough opponents and tend to be unpredictable.

“They’re a very capable team,” McMillan said. “They’re long and big. They’re a dangerous team and can beat anybody. It will be a fight and a physical game. We just have to worry about playing our best basketball.”

Offensively, Missouri isn’t known for the best statistical numbers in the country, but their recipe for success has worked: they are averaging 80.3 points per game and shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three.

“They’re a great team,” forward Rashaun Agee said. “They’re a little slower-paced team. They will get up and run, but that just shows what you can expect in SEC play. You never know what team you’ll get from each team.”

The same thing somewhat applies to the Aggies, who have dropped two games in the last week which was only the second consecutive time this season, and guard Jacari Lane knows it has been a test but believes in the group despite the adversity.

“It’s been a test for our team,” Lane said. “Every team in college basketball goes through adversity. The good teams grow and fight together, and that’s what we’re doing. Everybody is still positive. We’re excited for tomorrow.”

Tipoff between A&M and Missouri begins at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.