Aggies cannot afford to overlook improving Missouri team

At first glance Texas A&M (15-13, 7-9) appears headed for an easy Southeastern Conference basketball victory which would guarantee a winning season.

A closer look shows a road trip to face Missouri (7-21, 2-14) on Tuesday night figures to be much more difficult than the Tigers’ porous record would suggest. Very little has come easy for the Aggies. A win in Columbia probably won’t, either.

“We’re going into a tough place … Missouri,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said on Monday. “It’s strange when you look at their record and you see how they play and how many games they’ve lost at the end. It’s a credit to their kids and coach (Kim) Anderson and what he’s been able to do.

“We’ve got to go in there and have the same approach we’ve had the last few games.”

No doubt, the Aggies have their usual inside advantage with 6-10 center Tyler Davis and 6-9 double-double machine Robert Williams. Admon Gilder has been exceptional while averaging 15.7 points in February. Also, the Aggies have gotten more production from Tonny Trocha-Morelos and J.C. Hampton of late.

Williams is slowed by bruised knee and Gilder may be wearing down after playing 40 minutes on every game this month. But with a precarious resume’ for postseason consideration, the Aggies cannot afford to let up.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to take advantage of our size inside and keep them from getting easy baskets in transition,” Kennedy said.

“We can’t lose any games and we know that. We’ve got to win (Tuesday). We’ve got to win Saturday (vs. Kentucky). We’ve got to win practice days. Hopefully, we’ll get healthy. Admon and Robert are beat up. Admon cannot be beat up.”

Aside from health concerns, other indicators suggesting A&M could be in for a struggle against Missouri are as follows:

The Aggies have struggled on the road. A&M is just 2-7 away from Reed Arena in SEC play. Since winning consecutive conference road games against Ole Miss and LSU, the Aggies have lost at Florida, at Vanderbilt and at Arkansas. True, A&M was in position to win all those games, but they failed to make clutch plays in the second half.

Missouri is playing well at home. The Tigers have made significant progress of late. They’re 2-3 in their last five games in Columbia, but were competitive in losses to Kentucky, Alabama and South Carolina. They also defeated Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

A&M had to sweat out a 76-73 victory over Missouri at Reed Arena on Feb. 8. In that game Missouri’s Jordan Barnett scored 23 points and hit a jumper to bring the Tigers within 69-67 with 3:39 remaining.

D.J. Hogg answered with a three-pointer to help stave off the Tigers. Of course, Hogg, who had eight points, six assists and a big blocked shot in the final minutes, is now unavailable with with a broken foot.

“The Barnett kid had a heck of a game,” Kennedy said about the first game. “We did a poor job of guarding him. Hopefully, we realize what he’s capable of doing.

“Their zone gave us some problems. We were not able to put them away. And we’re going to have to get back in transition. They play hard. Every game they’ve been competitive. Even (against) Kentucky.”