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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Texas A&M 66, Missouri 53
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 23, 2016
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials: # Karl Hess, # Bart Lenox, # Terry Moore
Attendance: 12198

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Upset-minded Missouri schemed to frustrate No. 10 Texas A&M by using a 2-3 zone for 40 minutes.

The plan was working, too. That is, until Texas A&M senior forward Jalen Jones got into a zone of his own.

Jones scored 17 points in the second half, including 13 in a pivotal 18-2 run, to lift the Aggies to a 66-53 Southeastern Conference basketball victory on Saturday before 12,198 at Reed Arena.

Jones finished with 20 points to lead the SEC-leading Aggies (17-2, 7-0), who posted their 10th consecutive victory. He converted three three-point plays in a second-half span in which the Aggies finally broke away. He also converted 9 of 11 free throws.

Jones has scored at least 20 points in four of the last five games and has been in double figures in each of the last 10.

"Jalen finishes at the rim," Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. "He took it to the basket hard. He's so quick and he attacks the basket. I can't say enough."

Danuel House added 17 points and a career-high seven assists. The Texas A&M bench also produced 21 points. Tavario Miller, who made a rare start in place of injured freshman center Tyler Davis, snatched a career-high 10 rebounds.

Missouri (8-11, 1-5), which is winless on the road, suffered its fourth straight loss and fifth in the last six games.

Junior guard Wes Clark scored 12 points to lead Missouri. Freshman forward Kevin Puryear added 11 and senior forward Ryan Rosburg had 10 before fouling out with 4:34 to play.

But the Tigers shot just 35.7 percent from the field (20 of 56), converted only 3 of 19 three-point attempts and committed 15 turnovers, which were parlayed into 11 points by the Aggies.

"I thought our guys played hard the whole game," Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. "We're a little bit undersized, but I thought we competed. I was proud of how we came out in the beginning. Obviously, we don't play that much zone. We played almost all zone. We felt like that was one way maybe we could slow them down. They're a very balanced basketball team. That was kind of our game plan."

That plan was aided by the absence of Davis, who was experiencing pain in his left foot and sat out the game as a precautionary measure.

Without Davis, who is averaging 11.2 points, the Aggies seemed too quick to settle for long-range shots in the first half and converted only 3 of 16 three-point attempts.

As a result, Missouri trailed just 29-25 at the break even though the Tigers had made just one of 10 3-point attempts.

"It wasn't frustrating," House said. "Every game has its highs and lows. We had to focus and take advantage of opportunities. Frustration never clicked into our minds. It was just that we would come out in the second half and do better."

But it was the Tigers who came out hot in the second half.

Missouri scored the first eight points as Puryear followed two free throws with a baseline jumper and Rosburg scored a pair of layups.

The Tigers later held a 38-36 lead after Clark hit a 3-pointer with 14:56 to play.

However, Missouri managed just one more field goal over the next 8 1/2 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Aggies showed more patience in working the ball inside to Jones, who took over the game.

Jones answered Clark's 3-pointer with a three-point play to kick off a 15-2 run.

Jones followed with a layup, a 3-pointer and another three-point play. House finally hit a 3-pointer for a 54-40 lead with 6:47 to play.

Missouri never got closer than nine points after that, while A&M's lead climbed to as much as 17 points.

"The zone was the plan before we found out (Davis) was not going to play," Anderson said. "We felt their inside game was so good we were going to try to minimize that. It worked for a while.

"I think we got a little bit careless in the middle of the zone. They did a good job of finally finding the hole. Of course, they started making some shots. Jones made some shots. House made some shots. It was kind of an Achilles' heel once they found the middle."

NOTES: Texas A&M had its second consecutive sellout crowd. It was the first time the Aggies have had back-to-back sellouts since 2010. ... Texas A&M is off to its best start in almost a century. The best start in school history was 19-0 in the 1919-20 season. ... Senior guard Anthony Collins, a transfer to A&M from South Florida, is the NCAA's active leader in career assists with 656. Teammate Alex Caruso is seventh with 555. ... Despite averaging 15.2 points, A&M guard Danuel House has been struggling with accuracy. He shot only 30 percent (12-of-40) in the previous three games. ... Senior forward Jalen Jones of Texas A&M scored in double figures for the 10th consecutive. ... Missouri freshman Kevin Puryear entered the game ranked second in the SEC with a 90.9 free throw percentage (20-of-22). He needed 18 games to surpass 200 points, making him the sixth-fastest player in school history to reach that mark. ... Senior guard Wes Clark has reset his career scoring high three times this season for the Tigers. Most recently, he had 26 points in an 81-72 loss to South Carolina on Jan. 16. ... Missouri is 0-8 away from its home court.
Top Game Performances
 
Missouri   Texas A&M
Wes Clark 12 Scoring Jalen Jones 20
Wes Clark 2 Assists Danuel House 7
Wes Clark 9 Rebounds Tavario Miller 10
Kevin Puryear 5 Free Throws Made Jalen Jones 9
Wes Clark 1 Steals Alex Caruso 1
Ryan Rosburg 1 Blocks Alex Caruso 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Missouri 53 35.7 3-19 10-17 11 39 1 2 15
Texas A&M 66 36.1 7-28 15-26 17 37 4 4 5