The 12th ranked Missouri Tigers made a game of it.  After falling behind by as many as 26, the Tigers began to wear down Texas A & M and cut the lead to five late, but the Aggies hang on to win 96-86.

A & M’s bench was the story in the first half scoring 28 of the team’s 51 points.  The Aggies used hot shooting early on to open up their lead.  Missouri’s only lead of the game came at 4-2.  The Aggies opened up an 16-8 lead 6:19 in.  The Tigers were able to cut the lead to four thanks in part to a three pointer by Justin Safford.  Safford finished with 12 points and 3 for 3 on three pointers.

The Aggies then went on a 16-2 run, at one point nailing three pointers on three consecutive trips down the floor to open up a 34-18 lead.  A & M went into the half up 51-29. 

The lead would bounce around between 12 and 17 for most of the 2nd half, until the Tigers started to make a move late in the game.  A layup by JT Tiller with just under four minutes to play trimmed the lead to 85-75.  DeMarre Carroll cut the lead to five with two free throws with 2:37 to play and you could get the sense that Missouri’s pressure may have been wearing down the Aggies, but they hit 8 of 10 from the line as the Tigers needed to foul late.

The Tigers scored 57 points in the 2nd half and put up good shooting percentage numbers, hitting 53% from the floor and 55% on their threes, but 13 turnovers and sending A & M to the line 35 times didn’t help their cause. 

The Tigers will now await the OU/OSU game to determine what seed Missouri will have in the Big 12 tournament next week.