Senior Shawn Phillips Jr. slammed home the game-winning dunk with 17.9 seconds left and then secured the win with a block on the other end as the Mizzou men’s basketball team earned an 86-85 road win at Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Tigers have claimed three-straight SEC victories and are now 17-7 overall with a 7-4 mark in league play.
MIZZOU LEADERS
Junior Trent Pierce tallied season highs with 23 points and nine rebounds to lead Mizzou to victory, making 10 of his 15 attempts on the night.
Sophomore T.O. Barrett chipped in 17 points to go with four assists and three steals, while Phillips finished with 12 points and eight boards.
Graduate students Jacob Crews and Jayden Stone also scored in double figures with 11 points apiece.
Senior Mark Mitchell added nine points and paced the Mizzou attack by matching his career high with eight assists.
GAME RECAP
A tight contest throughout, the Aggies (17-7, 7-4 SEC) started the contest on fire, making 11 of their first 14 field goals, including seven of their first nine from 3-point range. The Tigers stayed close during the early stretch but a 9-2 run by the hosts put Texas A&M up by six, 35-29. The Aggies would hold the advantage until the half, leading by five at the break, 46-41.
The tides would turn in the second stanza, however. Mizzou forced the Aggies to miss 10-straight field goals to turn a 57-50 deficit into a 70-64 lead. The lead would reach as many as eight points, 74-66, before the Aggies answered with a 13-4 run for a one-point lead, 79-78, with five minutes remaining.
From there, neither team would lead by more than a single point the rest of the game as the schools traded the advantage eight times during the last five minutes. Out of a timeout, Mitchell found Phillips for the final lead change on an alley-oop dunk with 17.9 seconds remaining. On the other end, Phillips blocked the Aggies’ final attempt from Rashaun Agee to secure the Tigers’ second-straight road win and third-straight overall.
TEAM STATS
The Tigers shot 53.8 percent in the winning effort – their 12th game of making at least 50 percent this season. Mizzou dominated the Aggies inside – finishing with an edge of 13 in rebounds, 39-26, while doubling the hosts in the paint, 56-28.
Texas A&M made 50.0 percent of its field goals. The Aggies also sunk 15-of-33 from 3-point range but the Tigers held them to just 25.0 percent (4-16) in the second stanza.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return home for their first game at Mizzou Arena in two weeks, hosting Texas on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
