Missouri Tiger head coach Frank Haith said after the Bucknell game on January 5th, that he would “live and die” with Phil Pressey. At the time, I don’t think he realized how close to home that comment was.
Thursday night, the Tigers (16-6, 5-4), ranked 21st in the nation, went into College Station three point favorites and hoped to get their first road win of the season. The Aggies from A&M had another idea in mind.
Right from the start, both teams came out shooting but Mizzou never had the lead throughout the whole game. Down 36-30 at halftime, the Aggies eventually developed a 15 point lead that would last most of the second half.
Both teams were very aggressive on the floor as Mizzou had 17 fouls throughout the game to the Aggies 15. The Tigers’ free throw shooting is what kept them in the game down the stretch making 22 of 24 from the line.
Connecticut transfer, Alex Oriakhi, led Missouri with 15 points and eight rebounds. In fact, all of the Missouri starters, aside from Lawrence Bowers, were in double digits for the night.
Phil Pressey, who is averaging over seven assists per game, to lead the SEC, had only four Thursday night in addition to his seven turnovers. His final turnover came at the most inopportune time as the Tigers had just taken their first lead of the game (68-67) on a beautiful three point shot by Lawrence Bowers with 53 seconds left on the clock.
Aggie guard, Fabyon Harris, then turned the ball over on an Oriakhi steal and passed the ball off to his point guard, Phil Pressey. Pressey made an outrageous pass to the second row of seats behind the Missouri bench and A&M regained possession of the ball.
After his costly turnover, Harris redeemed himself and drained a three-point jumper to give A&M the lead with 15 seconds left on the clock. Pressey then missed a three-point shot and Keion Bell had a layup blocked after an offensive rebound and time expired.
The Tigers, now 0-5 on the road, have the worst road record of any Top 25 team and have probably tumbled their way out of the polls. Many are saying that the Tigers are now a bubble team going into March Madness.
Prior to the loss, Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, had Mizzou ranked as a nine seed in the Big Dance. Now, they are lucky to be a 13 or higher. Five of the Tigers’ last nine games are on the road. This will be Haith and the Tigers’ toughest stretch to get back in the good graces of the tournament committee.
The Tigers play Ole’ Miss Saturday at noon ct. in a rematch that resulted in a Missouri 64-49 loss in Oxford, MS.
Shu in the Lou 