Missouri suffered its sixth straight loss on Tuesday, falling 63-57 to Texas A&M at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. The Tigers faced challenges in ball control and could not avoid fouls throughout the first meeting between the two programs this season.
Too Many Turnovers
Dennis Gates’ team turned the ball over 15 times in the contest, which is the highest in SEC play so far for MU. The Aggies capitalized by scoring 21 points off those turnovers.
In the first half alone, the Tigers turned the ball over 10 times. Forward Jesus Carralero Martin made a bad pass just a minute and a half into the game. Tamar Bates, who finished with two turnovers, also had an off-target pass when Mizzou held a 13-6 lead with 13:49 remaining in the first half.
Martin was responsible for two more turnovers within a few minutes from each other. A&M forward Henry Coleman III intercepted his pass, which led to a fast-break three-pointer from Wade Taylor IV. This reduced Missouri’s lead to 13-12 with 10:40 left in the half. With 9:25 remaining, Eli Lawrence stole the ball from another poor Martin pass, giving the forward his third turnover of the night.
Photo Cred: YouTube- Texas A&M Athletics
Bates’ second turnover of the game resulted in a charging call. Five seconds later, Taylor sank his second three-pointer of the night to extend the Aggies’ lead to 22-15 with 5:28 remaining in the first half.
MU also experienced shot clock violations on back-to-back offensive possessions towards the end of the first half. Nick Honor believed he scored from beyond the arc, but the basket was reversed as he did not release the ball before the shot clock expired. A&M guard Hayden Hefner increased Missouri’s deficit to 25-15 with 4:28 left by hitting a three-pointer. The Tigers were unable to make a shot in time on the following possession heading into the media timeout.
Sean East II had a very costly turnover with 13 minutes remaining in the game, losing the ball when Missouri was up 39-38 after scoring five consecutive points. The momentum shifted the other way, as Texas A&M then went on a 7-0 run.
Honor had another significant turnover for the Tigers. His pass went out of bounds when Mizzou trailed 58-53 with 1:19 remaining, giving the ball right back to the Aggies. Martin (five) and East (four) had the most turnovers in this game for the Tigers.
Foul Trouble Was an Issue as Well
MU drew 26 fouls during the matchup. Bates, Honor, East, Jordan Butler, and Noah Carter each had four fouls.
Bates, who finished the contest with 16 points, had three fouls in the first half. In addition to his charging call, the former Indiana Hoosier committed two defensive fouls. After picking up his fourth foul with 16:23 remaining in the game, he was substituted out.
Photo Cred: TexAgs
Carter was also whistled for three fouls in the first 20 minutes, including two in a 14-second stretch. Carter fouled Coleman as he was going up for a layup on a fast break. He also had a personal foul on Solomon Washington after East’s pass was stolen with 11:42 remaining in the first half. The Northern Iowa transfer was also forced to be subbed out with a little over six minutes remaining in the half after a shooting foul. Gates had to sub Carter out again with 13:03 remaining in the game due to a fourth foul call against him.
Butler had two shooting fouls within a minute of each other early in the game. Gates and his staff took the freshman out after he picked up his second foul just five and a half minutes into the contest.
Taking advantage of the errors, A&M attempted 37 free throws throughout the game. Buzz Williams’ team successfully made 27 of 37 (73%) from the charity stripe, leading to the Tigers’ 11th loss of the season.
