Trocha-Morelos lifts A&M to win

TEXAS A&M 60, MISSOURI 49

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M, once ranked No. 5 nationally to start SEC play, believes it’s finally back on track following its second consecutive league victory.

“It’s good to get back to the way we’re capable of playing on the defensive end and taking care of the ball offensively,” A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said following the Aggies’ 60-49 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

Tonny Trocha- Morelos scored a season-high 14 points and the Aggies ( 13- 6, 2-5) continued a tedious recovery from an 0-5 start in SEC play in which they dropped out of the rankings along the way.

“We lost five straight and to come back with two straight wins shows we really care, and that we really want to prove to everybody that we want to win this,” Trocha-Morelos said.

On Saturday both teams shot poorly from the field, as Texas A&M converted 39.1 percent (25 of 64) of its shots and Missouri made 27.8 percent (15 of 54) of its attempts.

Missouri was held to season lows in points and shooting percentage, in the Tigers’ seventh consecutive loss to A&M. The Aggies led 29-20 at halftime and were aided in the second half by two rare swishes from the right baseline by the senior center Trocha-Morelos, along with his 15-foot jumper from the freethrow line that put the game out of reach at 58-46 with 1:38 remaining.

“It was the tough, physical game that we expected,” said Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin, pointing out A&M’s early SEC troubles were primarily because of injuries. “They have a very talented team.”

No one from the Tigers (13-6, 3-3) scored at least 10 points, as Jordan Geist, Jeremiah Tilmon and Jordan Barnett scored nine points each. Both teams struggled from the 3-point line, with Texas A&M making 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) and Missouri 4 of 18 (22.2 percent).

Texas A&M center Tyler Davis was the only player with double-digit rebounds with 14 and he also collected a game-high three blocks.

NO. 17 AUBURN 79, GEORGIA 65

AUBURN, Ala. — Bryce Brown scored 28 points, and No. 17 Auburn rallied in the second half to beat Georgia.

Mustapha Heron had 14 points, and Jared Harper added 13 on just 2-of-9 shooting for the Tigers (17-2, 5-1 SEC), who came out flat for the fourth consecutive game and trailed by 16 points late in the first half.

Yante Maten, who came in as the SEC leader in both points and rebounds per game, had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs ( 12- 6, 3- 4). Juwan Parker added 16 points.

NO. 21 TENNESSEE 70, SOUTH CAROLINA 63

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lamonte Turner matched his career high with 25 points, and No. 21 Tennessee pounded the ball inside to get past South Carolina.

With the scored tied at 59-59, Turner made a short jumper and found Admiral Schofield in the corner for a 3-pointer on a fast break, and Tennessee (13-5, 4-3 SEC) led the rest of the way.

Turner also made all 10 of his free throws, including four in the final 36 seconds as the Volunteers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Gamecocks (12-7, 3-4).

VANDERBILT 77, LSU 71

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Riley LaChance hit two free throws with 2:01 left to put Vanderbilt ahead to stay, and the Commodores snapped a four-game skid by beating LSU.

The Commodores (7-12, 2-5 SEC) watched a 16-point lead in the second half disappear as they played a second consecutive game without their second-leading scorer Matthew Fisher-Davis.

LSU took its only lead at 65-64 with 2:21 left on a bucket by Duop Reath. But LaChance hit his free throws as Vanderbilt finished the game 9 of 11 at the free-throw line. Freshman Saben Lee hit a jumper with 47.6 seconds left to pad the lead as he scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 6:48 to help Vandy pull out the victory.

LaChance finished with 26 points. Jeff Roberson had 20 for Vanderbilt.

Reath finished with a career-high 31 points and had 13 rebounds for LSU ( 11- 7, 2- 4). Skylar Mays added 13. Tremont Waters, LSU’s leading scorer averaging 16.3 points a game, was held to just seven with Lee guarding him.