Texas A&M is staring down a challenge it hasn’t faced all season: the possibility of a three-game skid. The Aggies will try to get back on track Wednesday night when they host a surging Missouri squad in a key SEC showdown in College Station.
At 17-6 overall and 7-3 in conference play, Texas A&M has been one of the more consistent teams in the SEC this season. But Saturday’s 86-67 home loss to then-No.
17 Florida was a gut punch - not just in the scoreline, but in the way it unfolded. It marked the first time in SEC play the Aggies lost by more than five points, and it was the first time since November that they’ve dropped two in a row.
The biggest culprit? Cold shooting. Ice cold.
Texas A&M came into the game averaging a blistering 92 points per contest, but you wouldn’t have known it from Saturday’s performance. The Aggies shot just 30.6% from the field - and that number doesn’t even tell the full story.
They made just one of their first 27 shots, including a brutal stretch of 23 consecutive misses. For a team that’s prided itself on offensive rhythm and tempo, it was a night to forget.
Still, head coach Bucky McMillan isn’t panicking.
“We can learn more from this game than a lot of games,” McMillan said afterward. “Just understand we’ve got to stay the course and not get too antsy. Our destiny is right in front of us.”
There’s still plenty of belief inside the Aggies’ locker room. Pop Isaacs and Marcus Hill each dropped 17 points in the loss, and Isaacs echoed his coach’s confidence.
“I believe in this team,” Isaacs said. “We did a good job staying together earlier in the year when we went through that adversity. I have no doubt this team will stick together, do this and find our swagger back.”
They’ll need that swagger quickly, because Missouri isn’t coming to town quietly.
The Tigers (16-7, 6-4 SEC) are fresh off a dominant 78-59 road win at South Carolina - a victory that snapped a three-game road losing streak and gave them back-to-back wins for the first time since early January. More importantly, it gave them a boost in the NCAA Tournament picture as they chase their third appearance in four years.
Jayden Stone led the charge with 22 points, while Mark Mitchell turned in a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards. T.O. Barrett added 14, as Missouri controlled the game from tip to buzzer - never trailing once.
“To be able to go on the road and never have a deficit in a game is tremendous,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “Hats off to our team.”
And it wasn’t just the offense clicking. Missouri’s defense was locked in, holding South Carolina to 30% shooting in both halves - a level of consistency that Gates was quick to praise.
“We played a collective game from the beginning to the end,” Gates said. “Defensively, to be able to hold a team on their home court to 30% in the first half, 30% in the second and for the game 30%, that’s a remarkable accomplishment.”
Missouri now enters the stretch run with five more Quadrant 1 games on the schedule - including this one in College Station. It’s a golden opportunity for the Tigers to keep building their résumé, especially with three of those Quad 1 matchups coming at home against Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Arkansas.
For Texas A&M, Wednesday’s game is less about tournament résumés and more about rediscovering their identity - the fast-paced, high-efficiency offense that had them rolling through the first half of the season. If they can shake off Saturday’s shooting woes and settle back into their rhythm, they’ll be right back in the thick of the SEC race.
But Missouri’s coming in hot, and they’ve already shown they can win - and dominate - on the road.
This one has all the makings of a pivotal midseason clash.