Following 84-69 thrashing of Missouri, Aggies move into first-place tie

Texas A&M used a dominant performance in Columbia, Mo., and got some help in Starkville and Nashville to move into a tie for first place in the Southeastern Conference basketball race on Saturday.

Tonny Trocha-Morelos, D.J. Hogg and Tyler Davis keyed a pivotal 15-3 first half run and propelled Texas A&M to a convincing 84-69 Southeastern Conference basketball victory over hapless Missouri.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt upset Kentucky, 74-62, and Mississippi State upset South Carolina, 68-58.

That moved A&M (22-7, 11-5 SEC) into a first place tie with Kentucky (21-8, 11-5) and left South Carolina (23-6, 10-6) a game back.

If A&M can close the last week of the season with victories at Auburn and over Vandy at Reed Arena, the Aggies would at least share the SEC championship and clinch the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament by virtue of their win over Kentucky.

In beating Missouri for A&M's fourth consecutive victory, seniors Jalen Jones and Danuel House scored 20 and 14 points, respectively, to lead the Aggies.

Senior guard Alex Caruso scored just three points, but dished out six assists. Already the school record-holder in career steals, Caruso passed David Edwards as A&M’s career assists leader.

The Aggies shot 51.7 percent from the field and nit nine three-point goals, including seven in the first half. A&M committed just seven turnovers, while out-rebounding Missouri 35-32.

Freshman center Tyler Davis, who did not play in a previous victory over Missouri, scored eight points and had seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Trocha-Morelos, Hogg and Admon Gilder came off the bench to contribute 33 points. Gilder had 14, Trocha-Morelos had 10 and Hogg nine.

Missouri (10-19, 3-13) was led by sophomore guard Tramaine Isabell with 17 points and senior forward Ryan Rosburg with 15.

The Tigers could only manage to stay in contention for about 14 minutes.

Trocha-Morelos hit a free throw with 8:59 remaining in the half to kick off a 15-3 run. Trocha-Morelos and Davis both scored six points and Hogg had four in that run that provide the Aggies a 38-25 lead with 4:44 left in the half.

Two minutes later, A&M took complete control as Hogg and House hit back-to-back three-pointers for a 46-29 lead.

A&M maintained a 17-point lead at halftime. The margin swelled to as much 27 points in the second half.