Missouri Tigers vs. Texas A&M Aggies: Tipoff time, TV, projected lineups, prediction
When/Where: 5 p.m. Saturday, Mizzou Arena, Columbia
TV/Radio: SEC Network; KMBZ (98.1 FM)
Projected lineups:
P | No. | Missouri | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
C | 23 | Jeremiah Tilmon | 6-10 | So. | 10.7 |
F | 24 | Kevin Puryear | 6-7 | Sr. | 7.4 |
F | 4 | Javon Pickett | 6-4 | Fr. | 8.3 |
G | 15 | Jordan Geist | 6-2 | Sr. | 13.7 |
G | 1 | Xavier Pinson | 6-2 | Fr. | 6.2 |
P | No. | Texas A&M | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 21 | Christian Mekowulu | 6-8 | Sr. | 7.6 |
G | 11 | Wendell Mitchell | 6-3 | Jr. | 12.3 |
G | 2 | TJ Starks | 6-2 | So. | 12.5 |
G | 1 | Savion Flagg | 6-7 | So. | 11.9 |
G | 0 | Jay Jay Chandler | 6-4 | So. | 8.0 |
About Missouri (11-10, 2-7 SEC): Missouri is coming off a solid performance in a loss to No. 1 Tennessee on Wednesday. Despite losing, MU stuck with the Vols and never let the game turn into a blowout. Jeremiah Tilmon continues to stay on the floor while Mark Smith remains sidelined because of a sprained left ankle. Missouri has struggled to shoot it from three in Smith’s absence, hitting just 28 percent of its shots from deep. The Tigers’ three young guards in Javon Pickett, Xavier Pinson and Torrence Watson continue to improve and walk-on Ronnie Suggs has been an underrated contributor for MU.
About Texas A&M (8-13, 1-8 SEC): It’s been a long year for Billy Kennedy in College Station. The Aggies suffered major turnover in their frontcourt from last season, losing all three starters to the pros. TJ Starks has emerged as the Aggies’ star player while Savion Flagg has become a nice contributor alongside Starks. Missouri did a nice job guarding Flagg in its win at Texas A&M on Jan. 19. The Aggies has a nice win recently over Kansas State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which shows that despite their struggles, they can still pick off a good team on the right day.
Prediction: Missouri blew out Texas A&M the first time around and the Tigers seem to be trending upward, while the Aggies continue to struggle. Kevin Puryear has another strong performance against Texas A&M offensively and defensively and finishes with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Missouri 77, Texas A&M 64
This story was originally published February 8, 2019 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Missouri Tigers vs. Texas A&M Aggies: Tipoff time, TV, projected lineups, prediction."