The No. 21 Texas A&M basketball team entered Columbia, Missouri, with a prime opportunity to remain in the thick of the SEC regular season championship race. As it turns out, the Aggies (22-7, 11-5 SEC) will leave the Show-Me State with more than just a victory.
The Aggies’ 84-69 thumping of the Tigers (10-19, 3-13 SEC) coupled with Kentucky’s loss to Vanderbilt means that A&M is now tied with the Wildcats for first place in the conference, a tie that is owned by the Aggies after their last-second victory over UK last weekend.
Jalen Jones said after the game that winning a regular season title would be great for A&M, but that they also realize there are still two more games left to play.
“It would be huge. I don’t remember the last time A&M has won one and it would be huge for the program [and] the university,” Jones said. “We’re just really looking forward to having an opportunity – we are blessed to be in this opportunity that we have now – so we are just trying to take it one game at a time and hopefully everything plays out the right way.”
As expected, Missouri did not pose much of a challenge for the Aggies. A&M racked up a whopping 50 points in the first half, taking the wind out of the Tigers’ sails from the onset. Jalen Jones led the charge with a game-high 20 points and six rebounds for the maroon and white, while Danuel House pitched in 14 points as well.
Jones said that the Aggies made it a point to grab control of the game early.
“We just came in with the mindset of [getting] after them in the first five minutes, set the tone early to let these guys know that we aren’t playing any games,” he said. “We wanted to set the tone early and I think we did a great job on the defensive end and that helped our offense and we were able to keep it clicking throughout the game.”
If grabbing an early lead was the Aggies’ goal coming in, they certainly accomplished it. They dominated the Tigers by shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first half, including seven threes. The Aggies continued extending their lead and it got as big as 27 points late in the second half.
With the Aggies big lead, A&M head coach Billy Kennedy was able to give some minutes to his bench players, and they responded admirably. Freshman guard Admon Gilder scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three-point range, and sophomore big man Tonny Trocha-Morelos pitched in 12.
Kennedy said that his team, which turned the ball over a season-low six times in the contest, is starting to play its best basketball as the postseason approaches.
“I’ve said all year long that we haven’t played our best basketball yet, today was a good look at it. We did some good things against Mississippi State and our practices [have been] good.”
Senior guard Alex Caruso became the school’s all-time leader in assists when his pass to House resulted in a three-pointer in the middle of the first half. He is already A&M’s all-time leader in steals, and Kennedy said that Caruso’s work ethic and dedication to winning makes him a coach’s best friend.
“He’s a special player. He’s been a special player since he’s been here, he’s all about winning, and that’s a coach’s dream when you’re all about winning on both ends of the floor.”
The Aggies will return to action on Tuesday, March 1, on the road against Auburn. Winning the last two games are critical for the Aggies’ SEC title hopes, and the way they are playing right now suggests they just might have it in them.
 “I just feel like we’re back together,” Jones said, “and we’re hitting our stretch at the right time.