Wade Taylor IV tallied 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Texas A&M Aggies past the Missouri Tigers 63-57 on Tuesday in College Station, Texas.
Tyrece Radford and Andersson Garcia scored 11 points each and Henry Coleman III added 10 for the Aggies (12-7, 3-3 Southeastern Conference).
Sean East II scored 17 points and Tamar Bates added 16 for the Tigers (8-11, 0-6), who lost for the ninth time in their last 10 games.
Texas A&M earned a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 27 of 37 shots while Missouri made just 7 of 10. That allowed the Aggies to prevail despite shooting just 29 percent (15-for-52) from the floor.
Missouri committed 26 fouls and turned the ball over 15 times in the choppy game,
The Tigers opened in a 3-2 zone defense that frustrated Texas A&M’s offense. The Aggies shot 1-for-9 during the first 6:10 of the game.
Meanwhile, Bates scored three early baskets in the lane and East scored twice while the Tigers broke out to a 13-4 lead.
The Aggies stepped up their defensive pressure, earning opportunities to run, draw fouls and go to the foul line during their 11-0 run.
After East scored to tie the game 15-15, the Aggies scored the next 12 points. Texas A&M forced the Tigers out of their zone with 3-point jumpers by Taylor and Hayden Hefner.
The Aggies forced consecutive shot-clock violations while keeping Missouri off the board for 5:43. They pushed their lead to 27-15 during that span.
But Noah Carter stabilized the Tigers by scoring five quick points and Missouri cut its deficit to 30-25 at halftime.
Missouri opened the second half with Jordan Butler’s 3-point jumper and Bates’ 3-point play to cut its deficit to 32-31.
Radford put the Aggies up 45-39 with consecutive drives to the basket and a 3-point jumper. The Tigers stayed within range for the rest of the game — pulling within a point with 8:15 left — but they were never able to regain the lead.
–Field Level Media
