Memphis basketball upsets No. 19 Texas A&M on the road. Here are 5 takeaways

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M missed a 3-pointer with 4:07 left in its game against Memphis basketball.

It was the 19th-ranked Aggies' 23rd missed 3-pointer Sunday, and it gave the Tigers possession with a 12-point lead. That's when dozens of the hometown fans at Reed Arena decided they'd seen enough of the game and not enough of the exit doors.

Memphis (7-2) put the finishing touches on the biggest win of its season, an 81-75 road victory that will remain a sparkling résumé highlight for March. It also helps extract whatever sour taste that might have been lingering from its lopsided loss to Villanova and the narrow defeat at Ole Miss.

Texas A&M drops to 7-3.

David Jones gave Memphis a huge boost, especially early, and finished with a team-best 29 points. Jahvon Quinerly, no stranger to the SEC as a former Alabama point guard, rode a big second half to 24 points.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday's game.

Caleb Mills comes to play

If Jones and Quinerly were the headliners, Caleb Mills was one of the unsung heroes.

The Florida State transfer followed up his best game in a Tigers uniform (17 points at VCU) with another big one.

Mills finished with 13 critical points. Eleven of them came in the second half, including back-to-back 3-pointers with less than eight minutes left in the game and the Aggies threatening to make a push. Up by eight points, his first 3-pointer pushed the lead back out to 11. Then, another triple turned a nine-point lead a 12-point advantage.

The Tigers led by double digits after that until inside the final minute.

Nicholas Jourdain a big help

Nicholas Jourdain has been instrumental at times this season thanks to his size (6-foot-9, 220 pounds), athleticism and versatility.

But his usage has been relatively modest. Before Sunday, his season high was 21 minutes. Against the Aggies, the Temple transfer was pressed into a much larger role.

Malcolm Dandridge was in foul trouble for much of the game and fouled out after playing just 12 minutes. Without Jordan Brown for the second straight game, Memphis was in a bind. It needed size, especially considering Texas A&M has a lot of it and went into the game ranked second in the nation in offensive rebounding.

Jourdain gave Memphis 29 valuable minutes.

Not having Jordan Brown

The Tigers' frontcourt depth was thinner than normal for the second straight game.

Jordan Brown, who missed the VCU game earlier this week with what Hardaway classified as an illness, did not make the trip to College Station, either.

That left the bulk of center duties to Dandridge and Jourdain. The arrangement has worked well much of the time. Even when Brown was available, his difficulty staying on the floor elevated Dandridge and Jourdain's roles.

But there was a stretch in the first half when having Brown available would have been beneficial. Neither Dandridge nor Jourdain was on the floor for a nearly four-minute stretch in the first half, leaving Jonathan Pierre (6-9) as the biggest Memphis player in the game. Texas A&M seized on the opportunity, going on an 8-2 run to go from down 12-9 to up 17-14. They also outrebounded Memphis 5-4 during that span.

David Jones is lights-out again

Jones walked out of the Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia, earlier this week with a boot on his left foot. That's because late in the second half against VCU, he aggravated an injury that had kept him out of multiple practices several weeks prior.

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But he showed up at Reed Arena ready to go. The Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder appeared in tip-top shape out of the gate. Jones torched the Aggies for 21 points in the first 20 minutes. In his 36-point career game against Arkansas last month, he scored 17 in the first half and 19 in the second.

Turning Texas A&M over

The Aggies went in Sunday with one of the lowest turnover percentages in the country, giving the ball up on just 14.4% of their possessions. They were averaged just 9.6 turnovers per game before facing Memphis.

The Tigers, however, brought out some of the worst ball security of Texas A&M's season. Coach Buzz Williams' team avoided topping its season high (16 in a loss to Virginia), but finished with 12.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball upsets No. 19 Texas A&M. Here are five takeaways