Missouri blows out Texas A&M 66-43 for first conference win behind 17 from Jordan Geist

Cuonzo Martin has a new pregame routine: Be a part of the pregame routine.

Missouri’s coach was on the floor throughout warmups on Saturday, something he never does, and it appeared to pay off for MU. The Tigers (now 10-6, 1-3 SEC) snapped their three-game losing streak with a 66-43 win at Texas A&M (7-9, 1-4 SEC) in a game in which Jeremiah Tilmon didn’t pick up a foul until the game’s closing minutes.

“When we’re doing our pregame, we’re just be taking shots.,” Tilmon said. “He wants us to do stuff that we can actually do in a game. He had us working on some stuff that we need to do.”

Tilmon scored 14 points and added six rebounds as MU improved to 19-2 in games where he scores in double figures. Jordan Geist led MU with 17 points. He also had five rebounds and five assists.

Missouri’s first half was as unconventional as it has has been all season. The Tigers had just six turnovers, low by their standards, and were able to run offense through Tilmon, who is usually on the bench a few minutes in.

Geist broke a tie game with a long three to put MU up 15-12, and the Tigers capitalized on some sloppy ball movement by the Aggies and strong defensive play by walk-on Ronnie Suggs to build a nine-point lead. Suggs played a career-high 18 minutes for Missouri, and Mark Smith, known as a three-point shooter, drove to the basket for some points. Smith finished with 13 points.

“Ronnie’s probably our most active, length long defender,” Martin said. “He’s one of our most fluid guys. He’s a guy that can get downhill with the basketball. He’s a guy that can really help us.”

Despite a 1-for-6 start from beyond the arc, Missouri was able to make up for it with more emphasis inside, and there Tilmon’s presence on the floor helped. He scored eight points in the first half and was able to take advantage of the Aggies’ inexperienced frontcourt, which had bullied him last year when Boston Celtics forward Robert Williams was on the team. Tilmon said he was going back and forth with the officials all game between possessions to get tips on staying out of foul trouble.

“(The referee) was talking to me through the whole game,” Tilmon said. “’I’m going to work with you, just keep your hands up, move your feet, don’t be banging him. Try not to like purposefully foul.’ I was trying to do what he was saying.”

Martin yelled “all you” at Tilmon and senior forward Kevin Puryear when they posted the Aggies up, encouraging them to drive to the rim. Both converted with ease. After allowing Alabama to score 40 in its loss Wednesday, MU outscored Texas A&M 28-10 in the paint. Puryear finished with eight points and 10 rebounds and held Texas A&M star player Savion Flagg to just five points and seven rebounds. Flagg came into Saturday averaging 18 points per game in SEC play and was held scoreless by Puryear until 8:26 left in the game.

In his postgame press conference, Martin called Puryear’s game, especially on the defensive end, one of the best he’s seen in his year and a half coaching him.

Puryear said Martin challenged him in practice all week on his play by asking him how he wanted to be remembered by fans. Puryear, a Blue Springs South graduate, admitted that he’s had a tough start to conference play, “and just wanted to be a spark for this team,” against the Aggies.

Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy thought Flagg’s shot selection was poor, but applauded Puryear’s job guarding him.

“Missouri did a really good job closing the gaps,” Kennedy said. “Savion needs to be more aggressive offensively, but he really didn’t have a lot of looks. Missouri did a good job on him defensively.”

Missouri backup center Reed Nikko had a thunderous, one-handed putback dunk off a missed layup by Javon Pickett that sent Martin marching up and down the floor in celebration with 7:46 left. Geist was fouled while hitting a corner three with 1:47 left in the first half and hit the free throw to convert the four-point play. Missouri went into halftime up 36-21.

Texas A&M’s offense went from bad to worse in the second half. After shooting 24 percent from the field in the first half, it took the Aggies nine minutes to score their first field goal in the second half. Smith hit a three with 11:12 left to double up the Aggies and extend Missouri’s lead to 50-24. Kennedy apologized to his fan base in his postgame press conference for his team’s effort and praised Geist, for his improved play this season.

“Jordan Geist to me epitomizes what we’re missing as a team,” Kennedy said. “He maxes out on both ends of the floor, plays the game the right way. He dictated and controlled the game.”

Josh Nebo led Texas A&M with 12 points.

Despite being up late in the game by over 20 points, freshman point guard Xavier Pinson didn’t play at all against the Aggies. Martin said after the game that Pinson was available. He’s said recently that he wants to see more of a defensive presence from Pinson and more simplistic play on offense. Pinson is known for his flashy, no-look passes, which can easily become turnovers.

Missouri’s next game is at Arkansas on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. You’ll likely find Martin on the court at Bud Walton Arena for warmups, just like he was on Saturday.

This story was originally published January 19, 2019 at 4:55 PM.