No Big 12 basketball team has gotten the better of the Missouri with greater regularity over the past eight years than Texas A&M, which will carry an eight-game winning streak in the head-to-head series into its nationally televised Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee against the ninth-ranked Tigers.
The last time Missouri knocked off the Aggies was a 74-68 victory in the first round of the 2004 Big 12 Tournament, which served as the end of Coach Melvin Watkins' six-year run on the A&M bench. Watkins served seven years as an assistant with the Tigers -- the first two under Quin Snyder and the last five under Mike Anderson -- without seeing them regain the upper hand in a series MU now trails 11-10.
But Missouri (16-1, 3-1 Big 12) could finally change that in a game scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Mizzou Arena, where they'll be looking to improve to 4-1 in league play for just the second time in the past 10 years.
The season has been a struggle for Texas A&M and first-year Coach Billy Kennedy, who arrive in Columbia 10-6 overall with a 1-3 Big 12 record. That for a team installed as co-favorites in the Big 12 race in a preseason poll of the league's coaches.
The year began in awkward fashion with Kennedy, who spent the 2005-06 season as an assistant under MU Coach Frank Haith at Miami and went on to lead Murray State to two postseason appearances in five years, diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson's disease. He missed the entire preseason while beginning a treatment plan and got back just after star swingman Khris Middleton suffered a partial tore of his right meniscus, causing him to sit out seven games. Middleton still hasn't been completely healthy and the Aggies have had a difficult time buidling cohesiveness as they've also lost the services of forward Kourtney Roberson (fractured ankle) and guard Jamal Branch (transfer).
Kennedy and his players might be feeling a little bit better about their lot after picking up their first Big 12 victory -- a 67-54 win over Texas Tech on Saturday -- after an 0-3 start, but the Tigers are a much more formidable foe.
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Here are some things I'll be looking out from my seat inside Mizzou Arena on Monday afternoon:
? Which team sets the tempo? Missouri and Texas A&M prefer to play at vastly different speeds. The Tigers love to to push the pace, get up and down the floor and have piled up the fourth-highest scoring average (83.9 ppg) in the country. The Aggies, meanwhile, play at a more deliberate speed, only scoring a little over 60 points per game and surrendering just under.
The team that sets the pace of play on Monday will have a much better chance to win because the Tigers have struggled at times when forced into halfcourt situations too many trips down the floor, and the Aggies lack the weapons to keep up with Missouri in an up-tempo game.
It will be interesting to see if the Tigers show any signs of fatigue on Monday. Like Texas A&M, they'll be playing their third game in six days, and with only seven players in their regular rotation, they could start to feel a little rundown.
? Can the Tigers add to the Aggies' offensive woes? Texas A&M ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring (62.4 ppg) and 3-point percentage (30 percent) and it's second to last to in field-goal percentage (43.8 percent). The Aggies, with only one proven ball-handler in senior guard Dash Harris, has also struggled with turnovers, averaging 14.3 per game and is ninth in the conference in turnover margin (minus-1.38).
Veterans Middleton (13.2 ppg) and forward David Loubeau (10.2 ppg), their top two returning scorers from last season, are both producing at lower levels than they did last season.
Texas A&M has also been plagued by slow starts, particularly in conference losses to Baylor, Iowa State and Texas.
"We?ve had poor first halves, and we get behind," Kennedy said. "Our defense isn?t athletic enough or isn?t good enough to turn people over to get back in the game. We?re just lacking some firepower at both ends of the floor."
? Will Missouri get on the glass? A&M's formula for success against the Tigers has started with battering them on the glass. The Aggies piled up a 44-26 rebounding edge in their last visit to Columbia in 2010 and pulled out a 77-74 victory. They won 91-89 in overtime last year in College Station with a 40-35 rebounding margin, and had a 35-27 advantage in their second-round game against Missouri in last year's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
Rebounding continues to be an area where the Tigers are vulnerable. They got outrebounded by 10 in Saturday's victory over Texas, giving up 16 offensive rebounds. They were also outrebounded badly a week earlier in a loss at Kansas State, though they were the aggressors on the glass against Oklahoma and Iowa State and finished with double-digit rebounding margins in both games despite being undersized in each.
It needs to be something Missouri emphasizes because one way Texas A&M can try to overcome its offensive struggles is by getting extra shots by attacking the offensive boards.
? Does Ratliffe deliver again on the offensive end? The Aggies are the stingiest defensive team in the Big 12, holding opponents to a league-low 57.5 points on 36.9 percent shooting. To beat them, the Tigers produce against them, the Tigers will likely need all their parts working and that means Ricardo Ratliffe is on the floor and giving Missouri an inside presence so that opponents don't overplay the perimeter.
Ratliffe played 32 minutes and scored 21 points against Texas on Saturday -- with assistance from guards Phil Pressey and Marcus Denmon setting him up for high-percentage scoring chances. But he was limited by foul trouble in the two games before and totaled 14 points against Kansas State and Iowa State. He actually managed to have 12 against the Cyclones, despite being limited to fewer than 10 minutes in the first half.
--Columbia Daily Tribune
The last time Missouri knocked off the Aggies was a 74-68 victory in the first round of the 2004 Big 12 Tournament, which served as the end of Coach Melvin Watkins' six-year run on the A&M bench. Watkins served seven years as an assistant with the Tigers -- the first two under Quin Snyder and the last five under Mike Anderson -- without seeing them regain the upper hand in a series MU now trails 11-10.
But Missouri (16-1, 3-1 Big 12) could finally change that in a game scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Mizzou Arena, where they'll be looking to improve to 4-1 in league play for just the second time in the past 10 years.
The season has been a struggle for Texas A&M and first-year Coach Billy Kennedy, who arrive in Columbia 10-6 overall with a 1-3 Big 12 record. That for a team installed as co-favorites in the Big 12 race in a preseason poll of the league's coaches.
The year began in awkward fashion with Kennedy, who spent the 2005-06 season as an assistant under MU Coach Frank Haith at Miami and went on to lead Murray State to two postseason appearances in five years, diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson's disease. He missed the entire preseason while beginning a treatment plan and got back just after star swingman Khris Middleton suffered a partial tore of his right meniscus, causing him to sit out seven games. Middleton still hasn't been completely healthy and the Aggies have had a difficult time buidling cohesiveness as they've also lost the services of forward Kourtney Roberson (fractured ankle) and guard Jamal Branch (transfer).
Kennedy and his players might be feeling a little bit better about their lot after picking up their first Big 12 victory -- a 67-54 win over Texas Tech on Saturday -- after an 0-3 start, but the Tigers are a much more formidable foe.
=========
Here are some things I'll be looking out from my seat inside Mizzou Arena on Monday afternoon:
? Which team sets the tempo? Missouri and Texas A&M prefer to play at vastly different speeds. The Tigers love to to push the pace, get up and down the floor and have piled up the fourth-highest scoring average (83.9 ppg) in the country. The Aggies, meanwhile, play at a more deliberate speed, only scoring a little over 60 points per game and surrendering just under.
The team that sets the pace of play on Monday will have a much better chance to win because the Tigers have struggled at times when forced into halfcourt situations too many trips down the floor, and the Aggies lack the weapons to keep up with Missouri in an up-tempo game.
It will be interesting to see if the Tigers show any signs of fatigue on Monday. Like Texas A&M, they'll be playing their third game in six days, and with only seven players in their regular rotation, they could start to feel a little rundown.
? Can the Tigers add to the Aggies' offensive woes? Texas A&M ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring (62.4 ppg) and 3-point percentage (30 percent) and it's second to last to in field-goal percentage (43.8 percent). The Aggies, with only one proven ball-handler in senior guard Dash Harris, has also struggled with turnovers, averaging 14.3 per game and is ninth in the conference in turnover margin (minus-1.38).
Veterans Middleton (13.2 ppg) and forward David Loubeau (10.2 ppg), their top two returning scorers from last season, are both producing at lower levels than they did last season.
Texas A&M has also been plagued by slow starts, particularly in conference losses to Baylor, Iowa State and Texas.
"We?ve had poor first halves, and we get behind," Kennedy said. "Our defense isn?t athletic enough or isn?t good enough to turn people over to get back in the game. We?re just lacking some firepower at both ends of the floor."
? Will Missouri get on the glass? A&M's formula for success against the Tigers has started with battering them on the glass. The Aggies piled up a 44-26 rebounding edge in their last visit to Columbia in 2010 and pulled out a 77-74 victory. They won 91-89 in overtime last year in College Station with a 40-35 rebounding margin, and had a 35-27 advantage in their second-round game against Missouri in last year's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
Rebounding continues to be an area where the Tigers are vulnerable. They got outrebounded by 10 in Saturday's victory over Texas, giving up 16 offensive rebounds. They were also outrebounded badly a week earlier in a loss at Kansas State, though they were the aggressors on the glass against Oklahoma and Iowa State and finished with double-digit rebounding margins in both games despite being undersized in each.
It needs to be something Missouri emphasizes because one way Texas A&M can try to overcome its offensive struggles is by getting extra shots by attacking the offensive boards.
? Does Ratliffe deliver again on the offensive end? The Aggies are the stingiest defensive team in the Big 12, holding opponents to a league-low 57.5 points on 36.9 percent shooting. To beat them, the Tigers produce against them, the Tigers will likely need all their parts working and that means Ricardo Ratliffe is on the floor and giving Missouri an inside presence so that opponents don't overplay the perimeter.
Ratliffe played 32 minutes and scored 21 points against Texas on Saturday -- with assistance from guards Phil Pressey and Marcus Denmon setting him up for high-percentage scoring chances. But he was limited by foul trouble in the two games before and totaled 14 points against Kansas State and Iowa State. He actually managed to have 12 against the Cyclones, despite being limited to fewer than 10 minutes in the first half.
--Columbia Daily Tribune
