Lengthy cold stretch dooms No. 25 Texas A&M at The Hump, 69-62

Press conference video courtesy of Mississippi State Athletics. 

A horrible cold front put an abrupt end to  No. 25 Texas A&M’s hot streak.

A nearly 13-minute field goal drought was too much to overcome on Saturday as the Aggies’ six-game Southeastern Conference winning streak came to an end in a 69-62 loss at Mississippi State.

The Aggies (21-8, 13-3) actually held a 44-35 lead when Andre Gordon hit a 3-pointer to cap a 13-2 run with 14:09 to play.

However, A&M did not get another field goal until Henry Coleman III scored a put-back with 1:18 remaining.

At that point, A&M still trailed just 64-60. But the Aggies, who previously have been so strong in high-pressure situations could not make the big plays on either end to pull out a victory.

In the final 14 minutes, the Aggies hit just one of 11 field goal attempts and committed six of their total 16 turnovers.

The loss drops A&M two games behind No. 2 Alabama in the SEC championship race with two games to play. Mississippi State (19-10, 7-9) got a desperately-needed boost to its NCAA Tournament resume with a Quadrant I victory.

“I thought we were fine in a lot of respects,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “I think (Mississippi State) played to who they are better than we played to who we are. I think a portion of that is our turnover rate. We had eight turnovers in each half.

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Tyrece Radford scored just four points and committed three turnovers before fouling out. That equals his season-low scoring output.

“We have had that many turnovers before. That’s well above our average (11.8 in SEC play). In a game that was the slowest game we’ve played in a long time, that’s a little magnified because it prevents us from having the opportunity to get a shot.”

The Aggies took only 43 field goal attempts compared to Mississippi State’s 52. But that was just one of many statistical categories in which A&M struggled.

Although rebounds were even, Mississippi State had three more offensive boards. That led to a dozen second-chance points and enhanced the Bulldogs’ dominance in the paint.

Mississippi State outscored A&M 34-18 in the paint and 14-7 on fast breaks.

Sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV again had an impressive showing with 21 points — his sixth consecutive game to score at least 18.

He didn’t get sufficient help, though. Coleman and Andersson Garcia both had 11, while Dexter Dennis managed nine. But Julius Marble II and Tyrece Radford combined for just seven points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field.

Mississippi State was led by forward Tolu Smith with 17 points and guard Shakeel Moore with 14.

“We didn’t have the average performance that we typically have from everybody,” Williams lamented. “A portion of that performance is based on the number of quality possessions. There were not enough quality possessions.”

After a slow start, A&M played well on the defensive end. Mississippi State hit eight of its first 10 field goal attempts to build an early nine-point lead.

However, the Bulldogs shot just 17.6 percent (3 of 17) over the final 12 minutes of the first half. That enabled A&M to pull within 30-28 at the break.

Boosted by 3-pointers from Dennis (2), Taylor and Gordon, the Aggies surged to their 44-35 lead and appeared on the verge of taking control.

That would not be the case. Mississippi State’s defense, ranked sixth in the nation, shut down the Aggies from there.

The Bulldogs fought back to take a 47-46 lead at the 10:40 mark and never again trailed.