In their second-to-last game of the regular season, Billy Kennedy and the Texas A&M men’s basketball team won their second straight game as they defeated the Missouri Tigers on the road 60-43. With the win, the Aggies improve to 16-13 overall and 8-9 in the SEC and while Tigers fall to 7-22 and 2-15 in conference.
The game started slow offensively as the score was 4-2 Aggies for the first six minutes of the game until Missouri’s Frankie Hughes drained a three-point shot. The Aggies then built a small 15-11 lead before going on a 13-2 run to make it 28-13 with 1:50 left in the first half.
Missouri responded to the run by going on a 5-0 run to end the half and make it 28-18 at the break. A&M kept a low double-digit lead for most of the second half before breaking away and winning the game by 17. Missouri shot an abysmal 24.6 percent, making just 14 total shots, while the Aggies shot 47.9 percent from the field.
A&M was led by junior forward Tonny Trocha-Morelos, senior guard JC Hampton, and sophomore center Tyler Davis. Trocha-Morelos was the game’s leading scorer as he tallied a career-high 18 points, grabbed four rebounds and blocked three shots. Hampton knocked down three three-pointers as he totaled 13 points and also had four rebounds. Davis had eight points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Missouri’s leading players featured sophomore guard Terrence Phillips, freshman guard Frankie Hughes and sophomore forward Kevin Puryear. Phillips racked up 15 points and three rebounds. Hughes had eight points and a team-leading six rebound and Puryear had eight points and two blocks.
The Aggies will be back in action on Saturday as they take on No. 9 Kentucky at Reed Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the game will be shown nationally on CBS.
