Texas A&M
7-017-2; SEC
Missouri
1-58-11; SEC
No. 10 Aggies Earn 66-53 Win Over Missouri
Jan 23, 2016 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Jalen Jones scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half to lead No. 10 Texas A&M to a 66-53 victory over Missouri on Saturday, extending the Aggies' winning streak to 10 games.
Missouri (8-11, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) led by two points when Jones scored eight straight points to give A&M (17-2, 7-0) a 44-38 lead with about 13 minutes left. Jones started that stretch with his second 3-point play of the half and capped it with a 3-pointer. The Tigers missed six straight shots and went 5 minutes without scoring as the Aggies built the lead.
Ryan Rosburg finally broke Missouri's scoring drought with a dunk with just under 10 minutes left, but Jones made his third three-point play of the half to start a 10-0 run that made it 54-40 with less than 7 minutes remaining and the Tigers didn't threaten again.
Wes Clark had 12 points for Missouri, which dropped its fourth straight.
Texas A&M's winning streak is its longest since it won 13 straight from Nov. 26, 2010 to Jan. 15, 2011, and its 7-0 start in the SEC is its best conference start since it also started 7-0 in 1993-94 to begin Southwest Conference play.
Jones struggled in the first half, missing all three of his field goal attempts, and making three free throws. He had no such trouble in the second half when he scored almost half of A&M's points to fuel the victory.
The Tigers couldn't find a rhythm offensively in the second half and went more than 3 1/2 minutes without scoring after the dunk by Rosburg that ended an even longer stretch without scoring.
Danuel House added 17 points and had a career-high seven assists for A&M, which hasn't lost since Dec. 5.
Missouri scored the first eight points of the second half, with the first four from Kevin Puryear and the last four from Rosburg, to take a 33-29 lead with 17 1/2 minutes remaining.
The Aggies finally got on the board in the second half with a three-point play by Jones soon after and a jump shot that House made under heavy pressure just before the shot clock expired cut the lead to 35-34 about a minute later.
The Tigers led by two after a layup from Puryear with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The Aggies went on an 8-1 run, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg, to take a 25-20 lead.
Namon Wright hit a jump shot near the end of the first half to cut A&M's lead to 29-25 at halftime.
Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
#10 Texas A&M 66, Missouri 53
Jan. 23, 2016 - Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M won its 10th consecutive contest Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena, defeating Missouri 66-53 to improve to 17-2 on the season and remain perfect in SEC play with a 7-0 league mark.
- The 7-0 beginning to SEC play marks A&M's best start to conference action since the 1993-94 season when the Aggies also won their first seven Southwest Conference affairs … Additionally, the 10-game winning streak is the program's best since a 13-game streak in 2010-11.
- Texas A&M posted its third straight victory over Missouri and now trail in the all-time series, 16-14 … the Aggies now lead the series in SEC regular season meetings 4-1.
- The Aggies also improved to a perfect 12-0 inside Reed Arena this season.
SELL OUT STREAK
- A crowd of 12,198 fans packed Reed Arena Saturday as tickets were sold out for a second consecutive game … Additionally, Texas A&M's upcoming games against Iowa State (Jan. 30), South Carolina (Feb. 6) and Kentucky (Feb. 20) are sold out with 5,000 set aside for current Texas A&M students with a sports pass.
- The last time Texas A&M enjoyed back-to-back sell outs was the 2009-10 campaign when the program enjoyed four straight.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M dished out 17 assists during the contest while committing a season-low five turnovers … Missouri, meanwhile, turned the ball over 15 times.
- With 15 minutes to play in the game the Aggies trailed Missouri, 38-36 … A&M then went on a 16-2 run to open up a comfortable 54-40 lead at the 6:40 mark … Jalen Jones scored 12 of those 16 points for the Aggies.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Tavario Miller for the first time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Senior Jalen Jones scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half … with 13 minutes elapsed in the frame, Jones had outscored the entire Missouri team, 16-15 … the 20-point showing was the eighth for the Dallas native this season.
- Senior Danuel House distributed a game and career-high seven assists in the win while committing no turnovers.
- In the absence of Tyler Davis, who missed the game for precautionary measures with a minor foot injury, junior forward Tavario Miller drew the starting assignment and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in a season-best 21 minutes of action.
- Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 88-63 in his fifth season at Texas A&M and 299-242 in 18 seasons as head coach.
UP NEXT
- Texas A&M will take the road next Wednesday, facing Arkansas inside Fayetteville's Bud Walton Arena … The game will tipoff at 6 p.m. and be televised by ESPNU.
