No. 15 Missouri has had an undefeated 15-0 record at home, surprising many in the Southeastern Conference.
The Tigers (17-5, 6-3 SEC) face a tough challenge against No. 10 Texas A&M on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Texas A&M (17-5, 6-3) has been playing well recently, winning four of their last five games. Standout guard Wade Taylor IV is back to full strength after an injury, and he scored 25 points in the Aggies’ 76-72 win at South Carolina last weekend.
After missing four games earlier in the season due to injury, Taylor struggled in his return, shooting just 28.9 percent overall and 26.9 percent from 3-point range in the first four games back.
However, in the game against South Carolina, he was on fire, hitting 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. Aggies coach Buzz Williams praised Taylor’s leadership, saying his ability to manage the game and create calm for his teammates is crucial to the team’s success.
“I am very aware of his ability as a quarterback — not just to make plays for himself. He creates a peace and a calmness that his teammates rely on,” Williams said. “The whole program is aware of the impact that he has.
We refer to it as time, score, momentum. We did a really good job — and he orchestrates 97 percent of, are we all on the same page? His willingness to do that, in addition to the talent he has, is a combination that is very rare.”
Taylor leads the Aggies with 15.1 points and 4.4 assists per game. Zhuric Phelps, another guard, adds 14.8 points and 5.1 rebounds.
“I do not necessarily think that we have the best players,” Williams said. “I actually think our players receive that we are not the best individual players. I think it is the power of all of us. It is a cumulative effort.”
Missouri came close to beating No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday, building a 34-28 halftime lead. However, the Volunteers gained momentum in the second half, and Missouri lost 85-81, though its NET ranking improved from 19 to 18.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Tigers coach Dennis Gates said. “We still had a great game.”
Gates acknowledged areas where his team could improve. “When a team gets hot, you’ve got to minimize their second-chance points, which we did not do,” Gates said. “When they missed it, we didn’t recover the rebound. And then the other part of it is executing in the one-and-ones on our side when we get to the free throw line.
Tamar Bates, one of the best free throw shooters in the country, wasn’t able to execute the front end of a bonus twice. So that’s four points, possibly, that was left on the board.”
Bates (13.9 points per game), Caleb Grill (13.1), and Mark Mitchell (12.4) lead Missouri in scoring. The Tigers have depth, and Gates used 13 players in the game against Tennessee.
With starting guard Anthony Robinson II limited to just six minutes due to foul trouble, reserves Marques Warrick and T.O. Barrett stepped up, combining for 12 points and three assists in 17 minutes.
“Ant Robinson is very important to us,” Gates said. “He picked up two fouls in the backcourt alone and when you do that, that puts your team at a disadvantage. And he can’t take those risks that he’s taking in the backcourt to try to get a steal or the physicality or extra possession.”
