Texas A&M’s regular season SEC title hopes take hit with loss to Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Tolu Smith had 17 factors and Shakeel Moore had 14 as Mississippi State knocked off No. 25 Texas A&M 69-62 on Saturday.

Cameron Matthews had 11 factors for the Bulldogs (19-10 general, 7-9 Southeastern Conference), who held the Aggies to one area aim within the ultimate 14 minutes and outscored them 34-18 throughout the identical time interval.

Wade Taylor IV led Texas A&M (21-9, 13-3) with 21 factors, together with 4 3-pointers, and Henry Coleman III and Andersson Garcia every had 11.

Texas A&M opened the second half on a 16-5 run and took a 44-35 lead after an Andre Gordon 3-pointer with 14:09 remaining within the half. But the Aggies then went over 12 minutes and not using a area aim and Mississippi State responded with a 12-2 run to take the lead for good.

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Mississippi State used sizzling taking pictures within the opening minutes for a 17-10 lead after an Eric Reed 3-pointer with 14:10 remaining within the first half. The Bulldogs led by as many as 9 within the first half however the Aggies saved chipping away and trailed 30-28 at halftime.

Mississippi State shot 41% within the first half and missed its final 11 makes an attempt behind the 3-point arc. The Bulldogs had been simply 6 of 12 on the foul line and had 5 first-half turnovers.

The Aggies shot 45% within the opening half and made 4 of 9 from 3-point territory. Texas A&M had eight turnovers within the half and each groups had 15 rebounds.

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The Aggies noticed their six-game successful streak snapped — and their hopes of catching No. 2 Alabama atop the SEC standings additionally took a hit. Combined with Alabama’s win on Saturday, A&M trails the Tide by two video games with simply two video games left within the regular season.

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