Mizzou basketball center Shawn Phillips Jr. had two clutch plays against Texas A&M, helping seal an important SEC victory. Mark Mitchell, Trent Pierce and T.O. Barrett also had strong performances.
Mizzou basketball (17-7, 7-4) found itself in an undesirable situation in its 11th — and possibly most important — Southeastern Conference game of the 2025-26 season. The Tigers were backed against the wall in a rowdy Reed Arena, trailing Texas A&M (17-7, 7-4) with 25.3 seconds remaining in the game.
Timeout Dennis Gates.
Team captain Mark Mitchell received the ball on the 3-point line. Mitchell, typically patient and intentional with his decision-making, took no time to make a play this time.
He rifled an alley-oop toward the cutting Shawn Phillips Jr., who had missed an easy alley-oop earlier in the half. Gates, with the call, and Mitchell, with the execution, showed the utmost faith in Phillips regardless.
He finished the lob and punched it home, putting the Tigers up 86-85 with 17 seconds left.
While Phillips had become consistent with finishing lobs, he's experienced consistency issues on the other end.
Georgia attacked him on its final offensive possession of the Jan. 20 game between the teams, drawing a foul as Phillips lowered his arms into the shooting space of Marcus Millender, who converted an and-1 layup and went to win the game.
Now in a similar situation just weeks later, Gates left Phillips on the court with the game and potentially Mizzou's NCAA Tournament hopes on the line.
Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee, who was shooting 4-for-4 with 13 points up to that point, was inbounded the ball. Like Millender, he went straight at Phillips, driving with intent of reaching the basket.
But Phillips had the backing and belief of his head coach for a reason. He avoided repeating a woefully-remembered play and blocked Agee's layup attempt to seal an 86-85 Tiger victory with the buzzer sounding.
Not only did Phillips literally stand tall to block the shot, he figuratively stood tall with the backing of his coach.
"Dennis Gates has the ability to make his players feel like they're 10-feet tall and made of steel," SEC Now analyst Pat Bradley said postgame.
10-feet tall and made of steel may be a stretch, but Phillips certainly towered over the Aggies regardless.
Phillips' late-game heroics wasn't the only notable performance from Mizzou's 86-point eruption. Mitchell, who threw him the alley-oop for the final points of the game, tallied a career-high eight assists.
Fellow starting forward Trent Pierce poured in a season-high 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting while knocking down three 3-pointers while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Starting point guard T.O. Barrett tacked on 17 points of his own and was crucial to beating Texas A&M's relentless full-court press.
Despite the offensive explosion, the game wasn't always smooth-sailing for the Tigers.
Tigers battle adversity through explosive first half
Mizzou started off hot, scoring 41 points in the first half while shooting 50% from the field and 33% from 3-point range. Its 41 first-half points was the second-most the it scored in the first half of a road game all season, and the most it had done so in the first half of an SEC road game.
The Tigers had more offensive rebounds, more second-chance points, more points in the paint and less turnovers than the Aggies. Nearly every aspect of the box score pointed toward Mizzou holding a lead at halftime.
Except one. One loud, important number: 11
Heading into the matchup, the Aggies averaged 11.5 3-pointers made per game — it nearly matched that total by halftime. Texas A&M knocked down 11 3-pointers in the first half, converting 64.7% of its shots from beyond the arc.
Nine of 10 Aggies to take the court knocked down a first-half 3-pointer, with the lone exception being starting big Rashaun Agee, who led the Aggies with three first-half assists.
Those 11 first-half 3-pointers helped the Aggies erupt for 46 points, which was the second-most points Mizzou allowed in a first half the entire season, trailing only the 51 first-half points it allowed to Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 7.
Mizzou may have started off hot, but Texas A&M came out scorching.
The difference? Mizzou's flame was steady and burned til the final buzzer rang. Texas A&M's was put out .
The Aggies offense took a severe hit, shooting just 12-for-32 from the field and 4-for-16 from 3-point range in the second half, eventually leading to its demise.
Mizzou basketball now sits at sixth place in the SEC standings, stuck in a five-team tie with Vanderbilt, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M. The Tigers are now one of the "last team's in" on ESPN analysts Joe Lunardi's bracketology prediction.
The Tigers will return home to host Texas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and will play both Vanderbilt and Tennessee in the two games following.