Tilmon’s big game & Puryear’s defense: Five takeaways from Mizzou’s win at Texas A&M

Missouri snapped its three-game losing streak on Saturday with a blowout win over Texas A&M. Here are five takeaways from the 66-43 victory:

Cuonzo Martin doesn’t believe in four-game losing streaks: The Tigers (10-6, 1-3 SEC) have yet to have one since he became coach in 2017. Missouri has had a few chances to drop four under Martin but he’s yet to let it happen. Credit to him for not letting the wheels come off after Missouri has dropped a few.

Jeremiah Tilmon’s impace is noticeable: Tilmon had arguably his best game in a Missouri uniform when it came to fouls. He didn’t pick one up until the game was nearly over. He had 14 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes and had the refs talk him through the game, which could help him long term if the officials are up for discussing what is and isn’t a foul. Missouri let Alabama score 40 points in the paint in Wednesday’s loss but outscored the Aggies 28-10 down low on Saturday. Missouri has to find ways to keep him on the floor.

How about Ronnie Suggs? Maybe the most envied walk-on in the country, Suggs logged 18 minutes on Saturday with four rebounds. The 18 minutes are the most he’s played in a college game since his freshman year at Bradley and they don’t appear to be going down anytime soon. Martin said after the game that Suggs is one of MU’s most fluid players and wants to get him involved offensively.

Kevin Puryear showed up: Give the Blue Springs South graduate some props. He held Aggies’ star player Savion Flagg scoreless until the game was out of reach and gave Missouri good minutes. He finished with eight points and 10 rebounds and said after the game that he hasn’t been playing well lately and doesn’t want his senior year to end poorly. If he can give Missouri a performance like Saturday’s consistently, it would be huge.

Can this carryover into Arkansas? Missouri’s next game is 8 p.m. Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena, followed by a home game against LSU on Saturday. The Hogs are a tough team to beat at home but have dropped four straight. Missouri lost a late lead there last season and Tilmon could give Arkansas forward Daniel Gafford a game if he stays out of foul trouble. A win would put the postseason talk back on the table for MU.

This story was originally published January 20, 2019 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Tilmon’s big game & Puryear’s defense: Five takeaways from Mizzou’s win at Texas A&M."