Missouri drops third straight game in 70-60 loss to Alabama, remains winless in SEC

Alabama gave Missouri plenty of chances to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season, but the Tigers didn’t take advantage.

Missouri (9-6, 0-3 SEC) fell to Alabama (11-5, 2-2) on Wednesday night 70-60 in a game where the Tigers couldn’t stay out of their own way.

Despite having just 10 turnovers, almost all of them were self-inflicted and Missouri shot 50 percent from the free throw line and 36 percent from three. Missouri went the entire first half without shooting a free throw. Sophomore Mark Smith and Javon Pickett each led MU with 13 points while Smith added eight rebounds.

With Jeremiah Tilmon’s foul issues plaguing Missouri in recent games, Cuonzo Martin tried some new ideas on Wednesday. After Tilmon picked up his first foul with 17:17 left in the first half, Martin gave extended run to sophomore Mitchell Smith and freshman point guard Xavier Pinson. Both barely played in the Tigers’ loss at South Carolina on Sunday.

Smith hit a corner three to put MU up 16-15 before a 11-0 run by Alabama put Missouri down double-digits. As in previous games, Missouri had a scoring drought of over five minutes in the first half. Jordan Geist, Missouri’s leading scorer, was guarded by Herbert Jones, who made it hard for Geist to score. Jones is 6-foot-7 and had five inches on Geist, and held him scoreless in the first half.

“We were hoping and praying we’d slow down Geist,” Tide coach Avery Johnson said.

A three by Mark Smith broke the scoring drought and Pickett scored five points to close the deficit to four points. Pickett’s layup came off a no-look pass from Pinson on the fast break.

Martin played Tilmon with two fouls at times and managed to keep him from picking up his third before halftime. But his absence was felt on the floor as Alabama outscored Missouri 20-6 in the paint in the first half. According to Martin, Tilmon tried to take himself out of the game at one point after being upset with his play, but MU’s coach wouldn’t have it.

“It doesn’t do us any good him sitting on the bench,” Martin said. “He has to learn. He has to go through it. I think the next step for him is having that confidence and not even thinking about the fouls.”

After going into halftime down 32-26, the Tide scored seven consecutive points to open the second half before MU responded. Mark Smith converted a four-point play and Torrence Watson converted a three-point play seconds later, but MU couldn’t tie the game. Tilmon threw the ball away off a rebound and the result was a pair of Alabama baskets.

Tilmon later redeemed himself with a putback dunk and floater to keep Missouri within five. The 6-foot-10 forward played 26 minutes, the most since the Braggin’ Rights game against Illinois on Dec. 22 but was still passive on defense out of fear of picking up another foul. At times he looked like he was going through airport security instead of defending, with his arms at his side instead of in a defender’s face. Missouri came close to wiping away a double-digit deficit at South Carolina, and it was more of the same on Wednesday. Martin said both times Missouri was unable to tie the game because it couldn’t string defensive stops together.

Avery Johnson Jr. led Alabama with 14 points.

Missouri’s next game is at Texas A&M on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.

This story was originally published January 16, 2019 at 10:06 PM.