Mizzou’s struggles continue with 68-51 loss to Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Josh Nebo scored 18 points and Texas A&M defeated Missouri 68-51 on Tuesday night.

The Aggies (11-10, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) swept the season series 2-0 over the Tigers (10-12, 2-7 SEC) following A&M’s 66-64 victory at Missouri on January 21. Missouri on Tuesday scored 18 first-half points — its season low in a half — in falling behind by seven at the break.

A&M led 18-14 with five minutes remaining in the first half before finishing the half with a flourish — at least compared with both teams’ poor shooting over the first 15 minutes. A&M guard Wendell Mitchell smoothly drained a 3-pointer from the left corner and was fouled on the play with 3:15 to go before halftime.

Mitchell missed the resulting free throw, but the Aggies grabbed the offensive rebound and drained more time off the clock. A&M added a dunk by Andre Gordon and a layup by Savion Flagg in the final 1:37 to grab a 25-18 lead at the break.

Four minutes into the second half, Missouri closed to 30-29 with 16:05 left, before the Aggies outscored the Tigers 13-2 in a little more than four-minute span. In that time A&M guard Quenton Jackson made a 3-pointer, collected a dunk and sank 3 of 4 free throws.

Both teams shot poorly from the field (35% for the Aggies compared with 31% for the Tigers), but A&M held a 49-30 rebounding advantage.

Mitchell Smith led the Tigers with nine points. The Aggies’ Emanuel Miller led all rebounders with 13.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: Halfway through SEC play, the Tigers continue to disappoint under third-year coach Cuonzo Martin. Martin led Tennessee to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in his third season with the Volunteers in 2013-14, but the Tigers are long shots to make the postseason at this point.

Texas A&M: First-year coach Buzz Williams has five more league wins than some predicted when the Aggies were losing consecutive games to Harvard, Temple and Fairfield in late November and early December. While the NCAA Tournament or even the National Invitation Tournament appears a stretch for A&M midway through league competition, the idea that the postseason is a possibility seems a victory for the Aggies.

UP NEXT

The Tigers host Arkansas on Saturday.

The Aggies play at South Carolina on Saturday.