National Basketball Association
Missouri 91, Texas A&M 83
When: 1:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 13, 2014
Where: Georgia Dome , Atlanta, Georgia
Officials:
# Tony Henderson, # Mike Nance, # Antinio Petty
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Missouri 91, Texas A&M 83 (2OT): Jabari Brown scored 19 of his 26 points after halftime and Earnest Ross finished with 24 as the eighth-seeded Tigers survived to advance to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Atlanta.
Johnathan Williams III collected 11 points and 15 rebounds for Missouri (22-10), which made a season-high 40 free throws in setting up a meeting with top-ranked Florida in Friday's semifinals. Jordan Clarkson chipped in 12 points and Torren Jones came off the bench to grab nine boards as the Tigers finished with a commanding 48-28 advantage on the glass in picking up a crucial win in their bid for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
Alex Caruso scored a career-high 28 points - including a late layup to force the second extra session - and recorded eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the ninth-seeded Aggies (17-15), who were eliminated from the tourney for the second straight season by Missouri. Jamal Jones had 20 points and Antwan Space chipped in 12 before fouling out late in regulation.
The Tigers led by five in the final minute of overtime and remained up 77-73 after Clarkson split a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left, but Kourtney Roberson hit two foul shots on the other end and Blake McDonald made a phenomenal steal seconds later before feeding Caruso underneath for the tying basket with eight ticks remaining. Texas A&M had a stretch of nearly four minutes without a point in the second OT and Missouri slowly pulled away by making 12-of-16 foul shots.
The Tigers had a nine-point advantage with nine minutes to go in regulation before a 3-pointer by Jones ignited a 15-5 burst and Caruso's fifth 3-pointer put the Aggies up 68-64 with 1:52 left. Ross and Brown hit two free throws apiece to tie it and, after Texas A&M missed on the other end, Missouri failed to get off a potential game-winner before the buzzer sounded ending regulation.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ross scored 17 points in the first half to help Missouri gain a 34-26 lead at halftime and Brown's 3-pointer midway through the second half gave the Tigers their largest lead at 54-45. ... C Dylan Johns, G Jordan Green and F Kourtney Robinson also fouled out for the Aggies while Brown and Clarkson did the same for Missouri. ... The Tigers earned 19 of their rebounds on the offensive end.
Top Game Performances
Texas A&M |
|
Missouri |
Alex Caruso 28 |
Scoring |
Jabari Brown 26 |
Alex Caruso 7 |
Assists |
Johnathan Williams III 4 |
Alex Caruso 8 |
Rebounds |
Johnathan Williams III 15 |
Alex Caruso 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Jabari Brown 14 |
Alex Caruso 3 |
Steals |
Jordan Clarkson 2 |
Alex Caruso 1 |
Blocks |
Johnathan Williams III 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Texas A&M
|
83 |
42.2 |
9-25 |
20-28 |
13 |
25 |
3 |
9 |
14 |
Missouri
|
91 |
42.3 |
7-22 |
40-53 |
11 |
43 |
2 |
12 |
18 |