Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball fall once again last night, at Reed Arena, as they lose a nail-biter to the Missouri Tigers, 86-85. The Aggies fall to 17-7 overall, 7-4 in the SEC, and 43rd in the NET rankings. With the win, the Tigers improve to 17-7 overall, 7-4 in the SEC, and 57th in the NET rankings.
This was a game the Aggies desperately needed. Now they have lost three games in a row for the first time all season. The bracketologists have taken notice as well. Less than 2 weeks ago, Jerry Palm with CBS had the Aggies as high as a projected 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now, he has them projected all the way down as a 10 seed. The Aggies need to right the ship, and do it quickly, or they could find themselves right back on that bubble in no time.
Texas A&M loses much-needed game against Missouri Tigers as slide continues
Before we get too negative, let's go over what went well for the Aggies last night, because we did see some improvement, despite the loss. Zach Clemence had yet another 20-point game last night, leading the team. Rylan Griffen had yet another 17-point performance. Funny enough that is Griffen's 5th game this season with exactly 17 points. He also has scored 10 or more points in 7 of his last 9 games. Rashaun Agee also did what he does best and put up a solid 13-point, 9 rebound performance.
You'd think a team that shoots 50% from the field, 45% from 3, and 80% from the free throw line would be the winner of just about any game. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. Despite making 8 more 3s and 3 more free throws than the Tigers, the Aggies couldn't stop a nosebleed down low and gave up 56 points in the paint. They also were thoroughly dominated on the glass yet again, losing the rebounding battle 39-26.
The Aggies' lack of size has become a big issue for them. Earlier in conference play, they were dominating the turnover battles, and that let them sneak away with a couple wins. Lately, they have been neck and neck with opponents on turnovers, and because of that, rebounding has become more and more of a factor.
To put it simply as possible, the interior defense was abysmal last night. Despite shooting only 33% from three, the Tigers still shot 54% from the field. The Tigers did a great job distributing the ball as well. Of the 7 players that saw the floor for Missouri, 6 of them had at least 9 points, 5 of them had at least 11. The Aggies were in a tough spot because, outside of Agee, they don't have anyone that can consistently keep up with other bigs down low, and that is starting to become a glaring weakness with this team.
The Aggies will be back in action Saturday as they head to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt. The Commodores are coming off a big road win against Auburn after losing at home after a brutal home loss to Oklahoma. They are beatable, but the Aggies will need to do some soul searching and get some things right if they hope to leave the Music city with a quad 1 win. Check back tomorrow for my full preview of the upcoming battle in Nashville against Vanderbilt.