Aggies refuse to flinch at Mizzou, finishes 6-0 'Tiger slam' with 69-60 win

When pressure mounts, some basketball teams flinch. Texas A&M flexes.

As has become the norm, the Aggies (20-7, 12-2) made clutch plays on both ends to clinch a vital 69-60 Southeastern Conference victory over Missouri (19-8, 7-7) on Saturday night in Columbia.

In the final five minutes, Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV combined to hit six straight free throws while the defense clamped down on Missouri’s shooters to extend A&M’s winning streak to five.

The triumph qualifies as a Quadrant 1 win, which will enhance the Aggies’ NCAA Tournament resume. A&M also remains just one game behind No. 1 Alabama with four games remaining in the SEC championship race.

But the Aggies don’t look that far ahead. Instead, they were looking at a Missouri surge with seven minutes remaining.

The Tigers rallied from an 18-point deficit early in the second half to pull within eight points. That prompted A&M coach Buzz Williams to call timeout with 6:53 to play.

After the timeout, the Aggies held Missouri without a field goal for five-and-a-half minutes while Radford and Taylor made shots to keep the Tigers at bay.

Taylor led the Aggies with 21 points — his fourth consecutive outing to score at least 18. His outburst included a perfect 10-for-10 effort at the foul line.

Dexter Dennis posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Radford finished with 12 points.

Henry Coleman III contributed nine points. Julius Marble II had seven points and eight rebounds. Andersson Garcia came off the bench to score three points and get six rebounds — all on the offensive glass.

The Aggies dominated on the boards. They had 41 rebounds to Missouri’s 23. A&M had 16 offensive rebounds to Missouri’s nine.

But A&M also had many more turnovers.

A&M committed 21 miscues, 13 of which occurred in the first half. Yet, A&M still led for more than 35 minutes, including a 39-25 advantage at halftime.

“We were terrible, particularly the first eight minutes of the game,” Williams said in reference to the turnovers. “There was a moment in time we had almost as many turnovers as we had made shots.

“When we didn’t turn it over, we did a lot of good things. Defensively, as unique as they play and as difficult as they are to guard, I thought our guys played to the scouting report and were prepared for the ending action of all of (Missouri’s) stuff.”

Indeed, only star forward Kobe Brown caused many problems. Brown led Missouri with 24 points, most of which came via five 3-pointers.

Missouri is the second-leading 3-point shooting team in the SEC. But aside from Brown, the Tigers converted just 4-of-19 attempts from behind the arc.

A&M appeared in complete control when Marble’s break-away layup capped an 8-0 run, which staked the Aggies to a 53-35 lead with 13:38 to play.

Yet, the stubborn Tigers fought back within eight points.

Forward Sean East II scored a layup at the seven-minute mark to cut A&M’s lead to 61-53.

Soon after Williams’ timeout, Radford weaved inside for a driving layup. Taylor followed with a pair of free throws. Radford added two more to give the Aggies a 67-53 cushion with just over three minutes left.

That was way too much for the Tigers to overcome.