Texas A&M uses Boots to stomp Missouri, complete series sweep

Press conference video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.

Need to put out a fire? Stomp it out with your Boots.

That’s what Texas A&M (14-8, 5-4) did in a 79-60 Southeastern Conference basketball victory over Missouri (8-15, 0-10) in Columbia on Wednesday night.

Senior guard Tyrece “Boots” Radford hit a pair of free throws and hit a big 3-pointer to stave off a Missouri rally midway through the second half. That sparked a 17-2 rally that clinched the Aggies’ fourth victory in their last five games.

It was also A&M’s second victory over Missouri. A&M defeated the Tigers 63-57 at Reed Arena on Jan. 23. This time Missouri was without injured leading scorer Sean East II, who scored 17 points in the first game.

“In many respects, their team was different,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “I want to be respectful to that, but in many respects, that was a good game for us statistically in a lot of ways.”

The Aggies out-rebounded Missouri 40-22. Of those boards, 16 were offensive. They resulted in 15 second-chance points.

The Aggies also held Missouri scoreless for nearly eight minutes at the end of the first half. They limited Missouri to 5-of-14 shooting in the last 11 minutes of the game.

Radford scored a game-high 22 points. The Aggies are 11-1 over the last three seasons when Radford scores at least 20 points.

Wade Taylor IV had 18 points, and Jace Carter had 12. Andersson Garcia had seven points but also grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out five assists.

“I’ve never seen someone that has the impact on the game that he does that doesn’t have to have the ball and or doesn’t have to score,” Williams said of Garcia. “What he does changes the entire game because it allows us to stay in control in many respects.”

Yet, despite A&M’s dominance Missouri, which trailed by 13 at halftime, trailed just 49-45 after Nick Honor hit a runner with 11:25 to play.

That’s when Radford drew a foul and converted two free throws, which started the Aggies’ clinching 17-2 run.

Honor scored 19 points for Missouri, which was led by fellow guard Tamar Bates with 20. 

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Garcia grabbed eight rebounds on each side of the ball in Wednesday night’s win.

They combined to hit five of Missouri’s seven goals from three-range. The Tigers relied heavily on 3-point shooting early but took a 23-22 lead on a conventional three-point play by center Mabor Majak with 7:54 left showing in the first half.

However, A&M did not allow another field goal the rest of the half the Tigers went seven minutes and 41 seconds without scoring.

The suffocating defense enabled the Aggies to go on a 16-0 run. Henry Coleman III, who had six points in the run, scored a layup with 36 seconds left to give the Aggies a 15-point lead.

Missouri finally managed two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to eke within 38-25 at the break.

The Tigers then came out scorching in the second half. They hit eight of its first 10 shots to storm back into contention.

But that’s when Boots, Taylor and Co. stomped out Missouri’s rally.