Field Level Media
Jan 19, 2019
Jordan Geist poured in 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, and Jeremiah Tilmon added 14 points as visiting Missouri rolled past hapless Texas A&M 66-43 on Saturday afternoon in Southeastern Conference play at College Station, Texas.
The win, keyed by defense, control of the lane on the offensive end and opportunistic 3-point shooting, was the first in SEC play after three losses by the Tigers (10-6, 1-3). Missouri held Texas A&M to just 26 percent shooting from the floor while outscoring the Aggies 28-10 in the paint and canning 8 of its 20 shots from beyond the arc.
The Aggies went almost 13 minutes without a field goal over a stretch that began near the end of the first half and ended with a Brandon Mahan 3-pointer with 10:54 to play in the game. By that time, Missouri had already run away with the game, leading 50-27.
Mark Smith added 13 points for the Tigers and Kevin Puryear pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Missouri, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Josh Nebo led the Aggies (7-9, 1-4) with 12 points while Jay Jay Chandler added 11 points for Texas A&M, which has lost five of its past six games.
The game was tied at 12 after a jumper by Texas A&M's John Walker III with 10:53 to play in the first half but the Tigers ran off 22 of the next 30 points to grab control. Missouri led by as many as 16 in the half when Tilmon made a pair of free throws with 52 seconds remaining.
Missouri led 36-21 at halftime behind Geist's 14 points (on 5 of 6 from the floor) and by outshooting the Aggies 50 percent to 24 percent over the first 20 minutes of play.
Texas A&M, which hit just six of its 25 shots in the first half, and was just 2 of 11 from 3-point range, was paced by Chandler's nine points at the break.
The Aggies missed their first nine shots of the second half over the first 8:12 and scored just two points (on free throws) and fell behind 47-23.
Texas A&M returns to the floor on Tuesday with a road contest at Florida, while Missouri visits Arkansas on Wednesday.
--Field Level Media