As Gary Thorne used to say in classic EA Sports NHL games, “Finish, finish, finish. And we’re not talking about the country, folks.”
Missouri didn’t finish on Saturday. Texas A&M did, and that’s how an eight-point deficit at halftime more than doubled in the final 20 minutes.
The Tigers had one of their stronger games in a while offensively, scoring 61 points. But offense only goes so far if the defense isn’t there to match.
If 83 points by the Aggies is any indication, the defense wasn’t there to match.
“It is always tough, losing by five or losing by 20,” freshman forward Jakeenan Gant said. “It just got rough for us.”
Sophomore guard Wes Clark led the Tigers in scoring and six players scored six or more points. However, the passing game left much to be desired, as Missouri logged just 12 total assists in the game.
Perhaps the difference was energy. Second-half put-back dunks from forwards Gant and D’Angelo Allen suggest that the Tigers didn’t just give up in the second half. Missouri coach Kim Anderson specifically commended both players after the game for their effort. But A&M’s Danuel House didn’t think that was the case with the whole Missouri team.
“When we started warming up for the second half, the (Missouri players) didn’t look into the game,” House said.
Anderson also recognized that the team ran out of gas after halftime.
“I thought late in the game that we wore out,” he said after the game. “But you can’t give up 70 percent in the second half and win.”
But while the Tigers now sit one game away from potentially hitting a double-digit losing streak, Anderson wants nothing more than to move on from Saturday’s disappointing loss.
“The great thing about basketball is that you play a lot of games,” he said. “It’s not like football where you have a whole week. We can feel sorry for ourselves until midnight, but then tomorrow we have to get ready to go on the road and play South Carolina.”