أغر؟´«أ½

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The margin for error built so efficiently by Missouri men’s basketball early in Southeastern Conference play is eroding. Now, the No. 21 Tigers need to keep their season from imploding.

That’s a bit of melodrama to feed the rhyme, but fresh off an 0-2 week, the stakes have risen against for Mizzou (17-6 overall, 6-4 SEC).

MU losing to then-No. 4 Tennessee and then-No. 10 Texas A&M by a combined seven points last week is not the stuff of catastrophe. The vast majority of SEC teams have and will experience back-to-back losses in league play.

Pragmatically, Missouri only needs two more wins for a real shot at making the NCAA Tournament — and is favored to win six more between now and the end of the regular season, according to KenPom’s modeling.

But heading into this week’s games against Oklahoma (16-7, 3-7) — tipping off at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Mizzou Arena — and at Georgia (16-8, 4-7), Mizzou is at a fork in the road.

The Tigers have demonstrated they can keep pace with just about anyone — the relatively narrow loss to the Volunteers confirmed that. They’ve also shown that they can play competitively in different styles — check out how MU tumbled in the mud with the Aggies for that.

But Mizzou has not asserted itself as a bona fide top-tier team in the SEC. Last week was a chance to do so but wound up a missed opportunity.

Missouri is staring down its more favorable back half of the conference schedule, positioned between two diverging groups of programs.

Atop the league are No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Alabama, both with one loss in SEC play — and one destined to pick up another in a massive rivalry duel on the hardwood this weekend. No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Texas A&M are the pack of chasers.

From those five teams — tentatively and theoretically — will emerge the four teams that receive double byes in the SEC tournament, good for berths right into the quarterfinals.

The key for those top three teams? As Tigers coach Dennis Gates pointed out Tuesday, they’re the only three not to lose back-to-back SEC games at some point.

“I don’t know the last time that took place,â€‌ Gates said, pointing to the overall strength of the conference. “It’s a tremendous thing to be a part of it and obviously do the things that we can do to make sure we continue to perform.â€‌

A week ago, MU was in that mix too. Now, the Tigers are mixed up with the likes of No. 19 Mississippi, No. 22 Mississippi State and Vanderbilt — all three of which Missouri has beat this season.

Those teams are all on paths to the NCAA Tournament but lack the potential of that upper echelon.

Playing to Mizzou’s favor, at this point, is its schedule. MU’s toughest remaining fixtures are against the Crimson Tide and No. 15 Kentucky, both of whom the Tigers will face on their home floor.

Missouri still has its chance to pounce on a South Carolina side that is winless in league play, road rematches with inconsistent Arkansas and Vanderbilt, this weekend’s away tilt against Georgia and two matchups with the Sooners.

That’s a lot of winnable games, if Mizzou is up for them. And that’s what’s on the line for its first game of the season against old Big 12 foe Oklahoma: a chance to prove the Tigers are capable and willing of beating the teams seemingly beneath them when given the chance.

Mizzou Arena could be quieter than it has been lately for Wednesday’s late tipoff against the Sooners. Snow forecast to blanket parts of Missouri might keep some fans from trekking to the arena.

OU began its SEC debut with a perfect run through nonconference play that included wins over the likes of Arizona, Louisville, Michigan and Providence. League action has been much harsher for the Sooners, though: Their lone SEC wins have come from the conference’s basement, against South Carolina, Arkansas and Vanderbilt.

Forward Jalon Moore leads Oklahoma with 17.7 points per game, but freshman Jeremiah Fears has been Oklahoma’s early breakout sensation, putting up 15.5 points per game.

Fears is likely to be a lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft, in part because he graduated from high school early to play college ball.

“He’s supposed to be at Men’s Wearhouse getting a tuxedo for his prom,â€‌ Gates said.

Mizzou’s coach will have a personal matchup taking place on the sidelines: His younger brother, Armon Gates, is an assistant coach on the Sooners’ staff.

Armon is in his first year with OU after assistant stops at Oregon, Nebraska, Northwestern, Loyola-Chicago and Kent State.

“Very proud of what he’s done in his profession,â€‌ Dennis said. “He’s an unbelievable coach. He’s been on staffs that have won and changed programs.â€‌

Dennis only recalls coaching against his brother two times before: During the 2008-09 season, when Dennis was an assistant at Northern Illinois, Armon was an assistant at Kent State and those teams met in Mid-American Conference action.

The Gates family is excited for two of its members to face off — and they’re excited to bump into each other.

“I’m excited to see my brother,â€‌ Dennis said. “I haven’t seen him in a while — our schedules are always like two ships passing in the night. When I get the opportunity to see him, that’ll be great pregame. But it’s still competition, no different than sibling rivalries always were.â€‌

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After four straight wins, Mizzou finally faces an unranked foe when the Tigers host Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

The Tigers, losers Saturday to No. 10 Texas A&M thanks to a last-second shot, are 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

Oklahoma is 16-7 overall and 3-7 in the Southeastern Conference after a blowout home loss Saturday to No. 4 Tennessee.

The two teams last met in the COVID-affected 2021 NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma won 72-68 in a first-round game.

Here's how to watch Mizzou Tigers vs. Oklahoma Sooners basketball:

Mizzou Tigers vs. Oklahoma Sooners TV, live stream and radio

Game time: 8 p.m. CST/ 9 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 12

Location: Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.

TV channel: SEC Network

Live stream:

Radio: KTRS (550 AM and 106.1 FM) in أغر؟´«أ½, across Missouri and online through the .

COLUMBIA, Mo. — There was balance, and there was force.

Through 39 minutes and 10 seconds of game time, No. 15 Missouri and No. 10 Texas A&M had played competitive basketball. Their contest was a tad low-scoring, chippy and chock-full of fouls but undeniably even.

Entering the final 50 seconds, the Tigers and Aggies had 64 points apiece. They had taken the same number of shots: 52. They had the same number of offensive rebounds: 11. And they’d each been whistled for 19 fouls.

There was a disruption, then a defeat. Two possessions defined a hard-fought game, and those saw Mizzou foiled and Texas A&M victorious: a 67-64 result through a game-winning 3-pointer from Aggies guard Wade Taylor IV.

It’s a lesson — if you subscribe to the coaching cliche that losses are lessons — written in the margins of the Southeastern Conference textbook. For all the talk of starting lineups and rotations and the magnitude of any given possession, sometimes the game boils down to who scores last.

“I thought the important thing was that we took the last shot,â€‌ Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said, “considering all that had transpired, particularly in the second half. We wanted to make sure that it was the last shot.â€‌

“The ironic thing about this conference: You can play well and still lose a game,â€‌ Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “That’s how good this conference is. We lost our last two games by a total of seven points — to two top 10 teams. One on a last-second shot, last-second 3. How much better do you want our guys to play?â€‌

The Tigers, who at 17-6 overall and 6-4 in SEC play are still having a great season, have lost two games in a row. On Wednesday, that was to a No. 4 Tennessee team that shot the 3 in one game better than any other stretch this season. On Saturday, that was to the Aggies, who hack and claw their way to rebounds and rock-fight wins — and who executed better on the two key possessions.

A&M started the game on a 12-0 run to put early strain on the Missouri offense. The Tigers answered with a 12-0 run of their own early in the second half, taking back the lead while holding the visitors scoreless for more than seven minutes.

That was the recipe for a score of 64-64 when MU guard Marques Warrick dribbled the pass across the half-court line with 41.5 seconds remaining.

He shifted toward the left side of the floor as fellow guard Tamar Bates cut across. Warrick then migrated right, getting a switch when forward Mark Mitchell’s defender stuck with him. Warrick looked briefly toward Mitchell in the post, now with a smaller defender on him, but drove with his left into the lane.

With one foot just beyond the free-throw line, Warrick stopped and spun. He pivoted, a 720-degree exploration of the options around him. The offensive set, it seemed, was on the verge of stalling.

Gates stood on the sideline with his hands on his hips and a timeout in his pocket.

“Hindsight is 20-20,â€‌ Gates said. “I could have taken the timeout — I had one to burn. I just thought we were going to be able to get something but our spacing got a little congest and we had to throw up a tough shot. That’s on me.â€‌

Missouri played on. Warrick dumped the ball out to guard Caleb Grill, the sharpshooter who was held to an 0-for-4 night from 3-point range by Texas A&M’s blanketing off-ball defense. Grill, in turn, left the ball and seven seconds on the shot clock to Bates at the top of the key.

Bates, Mizzou’s leading scorer on the day with 16 points on 5-for-17 shooting, bounced out to the left and crossed the ball between his legs at the sideline. With four seconds on the shot clock, he passed the 3-point line.

And with 3.3 seconds on the shot clock, Bates rose above two A&M defenders for a midrange jumper. The shot clanked high off the back iron and dropped into the clutches of the Aggies.

Williams called his timeout to make the most of the possession he knew needed to be the last.

After both teams huddled up to plan, Taylor advanced the ball for Texas A&M, entering MU’s half with 8.4 seconds left in the game. He bounced the ball to Aggie forward Andersson Garcia, who was standing at the left elbow as part of a “Hornsâ€‌ formation.

Then Taylor, picked up by Warrick, cut down along the curve of the 3-point line. He checked his progress a few steps into the move and looked back to Garcia — this was the look A&M had drawn up in the huddle.

As Garcia took a single dribble closer to his teammate, Warrick’s focus shifted toward trying to deflect the ball away from the opposing big man. This was also part of the look. Taylor and Texas A&M expected MU to “switch everything,â€‌ as the guard explained it. With his defender’s attention and hips squared in the wrong direction, Taylor shifted a little farther wide.

With 4.5 seconds left on the clock, it was evident Warrick had gambled wrong. He’d reached past Garcia and even farther past Taylor, who now had a pocket of open space.

With 4.1 seconds to go, the ball hit Taylor’s hands.

“He’s fearless with the appropriate amount of humility,â€‌ Williams said of his guard, who was 2 for 8 from 3-point range ahead of the shot he was about to take.

With 3.7 seconds, the shot left Taylor’s hands.

“Thank God that I made it,â€‌ he said.

A desperation heave from Missouri with the sliver of time that remained after Taylor’s game-winning 3 soared wide.

“We knew who was going to shoot the ball,â€‌ Gates said. “I think everybody in the gym knew that. At the end of the day, he made a shot and we got to live with it. Ultimately, if it was up to me, I would do the same lineup that was out there defensively.â€‌

In delivering Mizzou its first home loss of the season, Texas A&M broke a tie with the Tigers for third place in the SEC. The defeat is far from catastrophic for MU, which is still on pace to make the NCAA Tournament.

And Missouri is not far from having had a much better week — the kind that would have propelled it into the top 10 and national spotlight. Instead, against Tennessee and Texas A&M, the margins got the better of Mizzou.

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Photos: No. 15 Mizzou men's basketball drops thriller No. 10 Texas A&M

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The visitors dictated the style and pulled it off better.

No. 15 Missouri fell to No. 10 Texas A&M 67-64 Saturday in a contest underscored by contact, ugly offense and fouls — the hallmarks of recent meetings between the Tigers and Aggies.

After a slow start, MU (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) pulled ahead of A&M in the second half, only to succumb to Aggie-imposed vagaries on the offensive end of the floor and a clutch 3-pointer from visitingآ A&M (18-5, 7-3).

Guard Wade Taylor IV nailed a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the game to break a 64-64 deadlock and win the game for Texas A&M.

The defeat is Mizzou's first at home this season: The Tigers entered the weekend with a 15-game home winning streak, which was the second-longest in the nation.

Guard Tamar Bates scored 16 points to lead Missouri. Forward Pharrel Payne anchored the Aggies with 20 points.

The first half saw MU fall behind by double digits early, scramble back into the mix and succumb to an offensive rut that kept the Tigers down at the break.

Texas A&M began the game on a 12-0 run, stymying the Mizzou offense. The hosts settled down and tied the game at 20-20l on a Mark Mitchell layup with 8:13 to go in the first half.

But that was the last field goal made by Missouri in the half. It picked up nine points over the final eight minutes of the period at the free throw line but couldn't get anything going from the field. The Aggies, while hacking away at the Tigers, pushed their lead back up to 38-29 at half.

Mitchell and point guard Tony Perkins went to work inside and at the free throw line early in the second half, scoring six points each in the first four and a half minutes of the frame to cut A&M's lead to three points.

It wasn't until the final 10 minutes of the game that the Tigers broke through to tie it, though. Bates stole the ball and flushed it for a quick four-point burst that leveled the score at 49-49 with 9:41 to play.

As Mizzou continued to roll on a 12-0 run, freshman forward Marcus Allen gave the hosts the lead inside the last nine minutes. That run aligned with more than seven minutes without a bucket for the Aggies.

But over the next five minutes of game time, Texas A&M stuck around. It re-took the lead on a bucket from Taylor at the three-minute mark, pulling ahead 61-60.

An alley-oop feed to Bates gave the Tigers a 64-63 lead with 53 seconds remaining, only for A&M to tie the game 64-64 at the free throw line.آ 

Bates missed a tough midrange jumper with 14 seconds to go, setting up one last offensive possession for the Aggies — Taylor's 3-pointer. A desperation heave from Missouri missed at the buzzer.

Saturday's game was MU's 10th annual "Rally for Rhyan" fundraiser for pediatric cancer research. The initiative named for Rhyan Loos, the daughter of Mizzou senior associate athletic director Brad Loos, now has raised more than $1 million since its inception, Brad said.آ 

Takeaways

One of the core principles — and factors in effectiveness — for Missouri's half-court offense is getting the ball into the paint. The Tigers don't necessarily need to put up a shot inside the paint, but getting it into that part of the floor at some point in the possession tends to create better opportunities.

Through the first several minutes of the game, Mizzou seemed averse or unable to funnel the ball inside. The hosts didn't score until nearly six minutes into the game, when center Josh Gray set a clean post seal, Mitchell drove into the paint and kicked it out to Bates in the corner for a 3-pointer.

• Before the game, Mizzou assistant coach Charlton Young likened the style of some Texas A&M players to defensive ends and outside linebackers. His assessment proved prudent as the matchup looked a bit like a football game at times with players hitting the deck in crowds around the rim. Officials called a combined 38 fouls.

•آ Allen, a freshman who won the immediate favor of the MU coaching staff, was a second-half difference-maker. He showed composure on the defensive floor, walling up to play vertical defense near the rim. Allen finished with only two points but six rebounds in 12 minutes — all in the second half. He was on the floor for the critical final defensive possession of regulation.

Key sequence

With the shot clock turned off and the game tied, Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams gave the keys to his star for a chance to win the game. Taylor, guarded by MU's Marques Warrick, got his defender turned around on a cut to the right wing. His 3-pointer was pure and won the game.

Key stat

0-4:ج‎That was Mizzou sharpshooter Caleb Grill's line from 3-point range as he struggled to shake free from the Aggies to get a clear jumper. The last time he played a game without making a 3 was in MU's SEC opener, against Auburn.

Up next

After back-to-back road games, Missouri is now between consecutive home contests. The Tigers will host Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Wednesday in a reunion of former Big 12 (and Big 8) foes.آ 

The Sooners (16-6, 3-6 SEC) earned some quality wins in nonconference play but have struggled against teams from the upper echelon of their new conference. OU lost, 70-52, to No. 4 Tennessee earlier Saturday.

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Photos: No. 15 Mizzou men's basketball drops thriller No. 10 Texas A&M

COLUMBIA, Mo. — In the first 36 regular season Southeastern Conference games Dennis Gates coached in at Missouri, the Tigers outrebounded their opponent just once.

Through nine league games this season, Mizzou has outrebounded opponents six times — a marked improvement on the glass.

Saturday, the rebounding gains of No. 15 Missouri (17-5, 6-3 SEC) will get their biggest test: No. 10 Texas A&M (17-5, 6-3), the nation’s best offensive rebounding team. The game tips off at 2:30 p.m. in Mizzou Arena and is to be televised on SEC Network.

“It’s part of who they are,â€‌ Gates said of the Aggies’ rebounding. “It’s their identity.â€‌

In his sixth season in College Station, A&M coach Buzz Williams has a clear style established: Take shots, get the ball back and take more shots.

The Aggies are 284th in effective field goal percentage, 285th in 3-point shooting and 292nd in making free throws. But they recover 42.8% of their own misses, which is the best offensive rebounding rate in the country by a solid margin.

Mizzou, for context, is 100th in offensive rebounding rate by grabbing 32.7% of available offensive boards.

“Their offensive package may not be as sexy to most people, or when you watch it on film, it doesn’t seem like they have a lot of offensive weapons,â€‌ Tigers guard Tamar Bates said. “But their offensive rebounding is something that they pride themselves on.â€‌

Logically, the Aggies do well for themselves through second-chance points, averaging 15.1 per game in conference play — the second-most in the SEC. They’re also a strong defensive rebounding team, securing 71.5% of available defensive rebounds against league opponents.

Working the glass is a group effort for Texas A&M. Of its seven players who average 19 or more minutes per game, all grab at least 3.1 rebounds per outing, and four players average five or more rebounds per game.

And it works — at least against Missouri anyway: Gates is 0-4 against Williams and Texas A&M.

Guard Wade Taylor IV has reprised his role as the Aggies’ offensive engine, averaging 15.1 points and 4.4 assists per game on 37.9% shooting from the field — nobody accused A&M of being an efficient shot-making team.

The MU-Texas A&M game is one of only two Saturday contests between teams ranked inside the top 15 of the Associated Press poll. It promises some similarities between the programs’ strengths: Mizzou is second in the SEC to only A&M in defensive rebounding rate, while both are in the separated tier of three teams atop the conference in getting to the free throw line.

“It’s a Top 15 matchup,â€‌ Gates said. “We’re playing the (No.) 10 team in the country. It’s not supposed to be easy.â€‌

'Rally for Rhyan' fundraiser

Saturday’s game, already sold out, will be Missouri’s 10th annual “Rally for Rhyanâ€‌ fundraiser for pediatric cancer research.

The fundraiser is named for Rhyan Loos, daughter of former MU assistant coach Brad Loos. When Rhyan was 5, she was diagnosed with cancer, prompting the start of the game named for her.

Now in ninth grade, she and her family are back in Columbia. Brad Loos briefly left his role at Mizzou to work in the Memphis athletics department but followed MU athletics director Laird Veatch back to CoMo to work as a senior associate AD in charge of the Tiger Scholarship Fund.

“You see a group of people, no matter how different we are — our different beliefs, background, politically, whatever it is — you see people getting on the same page about the fight against cancer,â€‌ Gates said.

Cancer research often has been a cause near to the Missouri program. Assistant coach David “Dickeyâ€‌ Nutt is back with the team in a senior advisor role after stepping away last season to undergo treatment for a cancer diagnosis. And legendary former Tigers coach Norm Stewart, himself a cancer survivor, founded the national “Coaches vs. Cancerâ€‌ initiative.

Gates on Hamilton

Speaking of well-known coaches with connections to the Mizzou staff: Long-time Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton announced this week he will be resigning his post at the end of the season.

He has been a mentor and key figure to MU’s Gates, who spent the 2004-05 season as a graduate assistant on Hamilton’s staff before working eight seasons as an assistant coach under Hamilton with the Seminoles.

Gates and Hamilton still talk on the phone almost daily, the former said, and Gates credits his mentor for pushing him into the head coaching ranks and for helping him navigate a trying 2023-24 season.

“What he’s done for the game of basketball is definitely something that’s unmatched, in my eyes,â€‌ Gates said. “He’s a Hall of Fame coach who’s not even focused — he said it in his press conference — he’s not focused on getting to the Hall of Fame; he’s focused on getting to heaven. He’s touched so many people. … He’ll be missed in our game.â€‌

As a former Florida State assistant, Gates’ name has been floated in some circles as a potential candidate for the Seminoles’ opening. It’s extremely unlikely that he would even consider the job if offered, though.

Moving from the SEC program where he’s gained significant traction to an Atlantic Coast Conference program at a football-focused school would be a backward career step. And at the end of this season, Gates’ contract buyout will still be $8.7 million, which is a steep price for another school to pay.

Gates didn’t direct the possibility head on but did seem to suggest he’s not interested in his Friday comments about Hamilton.

He said he’s “excited to be able to beâ€‌ Missouri’s men’s basketball coach.

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