Mizzou basketball again comes close but sputters late against Mississippi
The Missouri Tigers started slow, and while they perked up, they couldn’t catch the Ole Miss Rebels in a 75-67 loss on Wednesday.
The Tigers (14-16, 6-11 SEC) dropped their second straight game. They’re in danger of finishing in the bottom four of the conference as the Rebels (15-15, 6-11) drew even with them. The last four teams in the SEC standings play the first day of the conference tournament next Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.
It was a similar script for the Tigers, who finished 1-8 in SEC road games this season. They threatened to get close, even tying it up in the second half, but failed to come up with winning plays.
“We fought to battle back,” Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin said. “We settled in in the second half. Thought we did a much better job on Blake (Hinson). ... I thought we did enough defensively. Didn’t capitalize on some areas. Couple tough calls on Dru (Smith), but that’s part of the game.”
Mizzou’s offense started sluggish. After a couple of baskets, the Tigers went silent for 4 minutes, 54 seconds. Ole Miss strung together a 13-0 run while Mizzou missed eight straight field goals.
The Tigers started to pick it up, mainly led by Xavier Pinson. He scored 16 points and added five assists and four rebounds. But Mizzou couldn’t get any stops. Ole Miss was everywhere, shooting 53.8% in the first half.
Mizzou looked like a different team out of the break, defending well and going on a run. The Tigers tied the score at 51-51 with Ole Miss sputtering. But once again, they couldn’t take the lead.
Arkansas defeated LSU on Wednesday, so the Tigers are one game behind the No. 10 spot in the 14-team SEC.
Ole Miss guard Blake Hinson and Breein Tyree had 19 points each for the Rebels.
The Tigers wrap up their regular season with Senior Day against Alabama at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Mizzou Arena.
“We didn’t capitalize,” Martin said. “I thought we had great opportunities. Just didn’t capitalize.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 10:23 PM.