COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Tyrece Radford scored 16 points and Wade Taylor IV added 14 as Texas A&M built a huge lead early and withstood a second-half push to defeat No. 20 Missouri 82-64 on Wednesday night.
It’s the fifth straight victory for the Aggies and is Missouri’s second loss in three games.
The Aggies (11-5, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) were up by 18 at halftime after a terrible shooting first half by the Tigers where they didn’t make a field goal for almost 11 minutes.
Missouri (13-3, 2-2) got going on offense after the break thanks to a full-court press that caused problems for the Aggies and got the Tigers back in it.
A 3-pointer by Nick Honor cut A&M’s lead to 4 points. But the Aggies scored the next 12 points to make it 65-49 with less than six minutes left. Taylor led the way in that stretch, scoring eight points.
Kobe Brown scored 12 points to the lead the Tigers.
Dexter Dennis helped the Aggies to the victory with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Henry Coleman III had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers used an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 48-36 with about 12 minutes to go. All Missouri’s points in that span came off turnovers as the team employed a full-court press to slow the Aggies down.
Andre Gordon made a layup for the Aggies after that, but Missouri scored the next 10 points, capped by consecutive 3s from D’Moi Hodge, to get within 50-46 midway through the second half.
Missouri led by 1 after two free throws by DeAndre Gholston with about 12 ½ minutes left in the first half. The Aggies took over after that, scoring the next 11 points to make it 24-14 about four minutes later.
Hodge made two free throws before Texas A&M went on another big run, using a 10-0 spurt to push the advantage to 34-16. Coleman scored four points in that stretch and Hayden Hefner had five points, with a 3-pointer to power the run.
The Tigers didn’t make a field goal for almost 11 minutes as A&M built the lead. Missouri finally made something other than a free throw when Sean East hit a jump shot that cut the lead to 37-20 with less than three minutes left in the first half.
The Aggies lead 43-25 at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
Missouri: The Tigers will have to regroup after losing two of three after opening the season 12-1. They played well in the second half but can’t play like they did before halftime if they hope to contend for the SEC title.
Texas A&M: The Aggies have been steadily improving during this winning streak after consecutive losses to Memphis and Wofford. If they keep getting better, they could make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since coach Buzz Williams took over for the 2019-20 season.
UP NEXT
Missouri: Visits Florida on Saturday
Texas A&M: Visits South Carolina on Saturday
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