Junior guard Marcus Denmon’s 22-point night wasn’t enough for Missouri to advance past the second round of the Big 12 Tournament Friday, as the Tigers lost to a strong-looking Texas A&M squad by a score of 86-71. A 46-33 first-half was all it took for the Aggies, whose overtime victory over the Tigers in January was one of the first chinks in Mizzou’s armor. Relentless efficiency was the order of the day—A&M shot .578 from the field, was 8-16 from behind the three-point line, and made 26 free throws in 34 attempts.
Missouri, meanwhile, had trouble scoring all night. Past Denmon the team hit just 13 of 45 shots and was 0-10 from three-point range. It was a rough end to the Big 12 Tournament for a team that had been ranked as high as ninth in the top 25 before falling out of the national conversation in the last weeks of the season.
Prior to tonight’s loss, the team had been hovering around the eighth seed in most Bracketology reports.