Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M is learning experience for two Mizzou freshmen

In Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin’s eyes, school was in session on Saturday for freshmen big men Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter as the Tigers lost 60-49 to Texas A&M.

Both players struggled against the Aggies’ frontcourt trio of DJ Hogg, Robert Williams and Tyler Davis, who extinguished the early momentum Missouri had in the second half and helped put the nail in the coffin for the Tigers’ third loss in conference play.

Tilmon fouled out for the fourth time in six conference games, while Porter was held scoreless on eight shots and limited to only five rebounds. He came into the game averaging roughly seven rebounds per game for the season.

Texas A&M outscored Missouri 32-22 in the paint but the margin looked more lopsided since the Aggies looked comfortable inside while the Tigers struggled.

“Good learning experience for our young guys,” Martin said. “Our young big guys for going against them.”

Davis led the Aggies with 11 points and 14 rebounds in the win and started to heat up toward the end of the first half when a number of defensive breakdowns by Missouri allowed him to get points on putbacks and layups.

“Tyler Davis is as good as advertised,” Martin said. “He’s got a presence to him.”

Williams had 13 points, eight of which came in a 90-second span when Texas A&M was able to extend its lead to double digits with a few minutes left in the first half. He also had nine rebounds.

Martin said size wasn’t the issue for Porter and Tilmon against the Aggies frontcourt, since both of them are listed around 6-foot-10, which puts them around the same height as the Texas A&M trio.

“When you’re going against talented other big guys, you’re clashing,” Martin said. “Those guys are physical, those guys are tough. Our young guys can only learn from how hard you have to play.”

Williams has similarities to both Missouri players as he also is on the radar of NBA scouts for his ability to play around the rim and impact the game in different ways defensively.

The Texas A&M sophomore was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman and came back to school despite being a projected lottery pick. Williams is currently projected as a surefire first-round pick in June’s NBA Draft.

“You have two of the best bigs in the league and they’re tough to guard,” Missouri senior forward Jordan Barnett said. “Our bigs definitely experienced that. They put down the shots that we couldn’t hit.”

Despite going scoreless, Porter had a few instances in which he had his defender beat but couldn’t get his shot to fall. There were other times where he was double-teamed by a pair of Aggies and couldn’t handle the extra body on him.

Tilmon, on the other hand, showed some flashes in the second half despite his usual bout with foul trouble. The East St. Louis, Ill., native scored seven of his nine points in the second half during a stretch in which Missouri had the Aggies’ lead down to single digits and had some momentum on offense.

Barnett said he thought Tilmon deserved more touches in the second half and that Missouri should have tried to run more offense through him.

“It’s always good to see him get going like that,” Barnett said of Tilmon. “Continuing to build his confidence. He definitely gave us a boost when we needed him.”

Tilmon and Porter won’t have as tough a test in Missouri’s next game against No. 17 Auburn, which is a team that has strong guard play rather than stud forwards.

But as Missouri continues to sway back-and-forth on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Martin will need his freshmen big men to turn Saturday’s lessons into results.

This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M is learning experience for two Mizzou freshmen."