Mar 3, 2007, 17:10 GMT
College Station, TX - The seventh-ranked Texas A&M Aggies are fresh off a heart-breaking defeat, and they will close out their regular season against the Missouri Tigers.
While Missouri seems to be on the outside of the NCAA Tournament picture as of now, a victory over A&M coupled with a solid run in the Big 12 Conference Tournament could sway the committee. The Tigers are 18-10 overall, including 7-8 in league play, and they have won four of their last five games. On Wednesday, they cruised to a 91-82 decision over Colorado.
Texas A&M carried a three-game winning streak into Wednesday's showdown at Texas, but despite an outstanding effort on the road, the Aggies fell by a 98-96 final in double overtime. Still, the team is 24-5 overall, including 12-3 in conference, tied with the Longhorns for second place in the Big 12 standings. A&M needs a win today and a loss by Kansas to claim a share of the league's regular season title.
Missouri owns an 11-4 lead in the all-time series, but it was A&M that claimed victory in the most recent meeting, taking a 54-51 decision in Columbia last season.
Missouri is averaging 77.4 ppg this season, while surrendering 70.2 ppg to the opposition. Stefhon Hannah is the leading scorer for the Tigers, as he is posting 15.5 ppg on the strength of his 40 percent shooting from the floor. The versatile guard has also racked up 131 assists and 69 steals. Matt Lawrence provides 11.4 ppg for Mizzou, and Marshall Brown rounds out a trio of double- digit scorers with 10.1 ppg. In the victory over Colorado on Wednesday, Matt Lawrence tallied 17 points. Marcus Watkins came through with 15 points on senior night, and Keon Lawrence finished with 13 points and six assists. Hannah had 12 points for the Tigers, who held on for the win despite 38.7 percent shooting from the field in the second half.
Texas A&M's Acie Law has topped 30 points in each of the last two games, bumping his average to 18.1 ppg this season. Law is shooting 51.2 percent from the floor, including 45.3 percent from three-point range, and he has dished out 156 assists, more than double his turnover total. Make no mistake, his late- game heroics and leadership make Law a major contender for Big 12 Player of the Year honors. Joseph Jones quietly supplies 13.6 ppg and 6.7 rpg for the Aggies, who are getting 12.3 ppg from Josh Carter and 12.1 ppg from Antanas Kavaliauskas. Texas A&M has benefited tremendously from the fact that it has featured the same starting lineup in every game this season. Law poured in 33 points against Texas on Wednesday, and he got plenty of help from the talented supporting cast. Unfortunately, the Aggies were outscored 29-15 from the foul line and only forced 10 turnovers in 50 minutes.
© 2007 The Sports Network
View blog reactions
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)