Texas A&M will try to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday, while visiting Missouri endeavors to end a four-game losing streak.
The Aggies (15-7, 4-5 SEC) have not won since Jan. 15, when they earned a 67-64 victory at Missouri. But they are 10-2 at home at Reed Arena in College Station this season.
The Tigers (8-13, 2-6) have lost six of their last seven. They are 1-6 on the road this season.
In a 90-80 loss at No. 22 Tennessee on Tuesday, Texas A&M had four scorers in double figures, led by 19 points off the bench by Wade Taylor IV.
The Aggies turned the ball over 16 times and were outrebounded 34-27. Tellingly, Tennessee had 16 offensive rebounds while A&M had just 15 rebounds on the defensive end.
“I thought we did a lot of really good things,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. “Multiple players did a lot of really good things. But we have to control our live ball turnovers better and we can’t allow an opponent — regardless of who that opponent or where we play — to get more offensive rebounds at a higher percentage than we do defensive rebounds.”
Williams’ message for his team was succinct.
“You have to play with higher discipline and you have to play with a higher toughness level,” he said. “And you have to do from start to finish.”
Missouri is coming off a 66-65 loss at home to Florida on Wednesday. They led by nine points in the second half but faded once again down the stretch.
“In every game it’s something different,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “We’re shooting the ball better than we have all season, but we’ve got to be able to get those consistent stops.
“You have to take the scouting report down the stretch of games, and I don’t think we did a good job of that on defense. You gotta finish these games. You gotta finish them.”
In the previous meeting between the teams, Missouri held a 10-point lead with 10 minutes remaining before the Aggies outscored the Tigers 26-13 down the stretch.
Henry Coleman III scored 18 points for A&M in that one. He is averaging 13.8 points and shooting 63 percent from the floor in SEC games.
Jarron Coleman led Missouri with 14 points against the Aggies and DaJuan Gordon and Javon Pickett each scored 11. Pickett missed the Florida game with a facial injury impacting his vision.
Kobe Brown is Missouri’s leading scorer at 12.7 points per game, but he scored just seven points in the last game against the Aggies and he has scored in double figures just once in his past seven games.
–Field Level Media
