Mizzou basketball blows 14-point second half lead, collapses at Mississippi State
The Missouri men’s basketball team played a nearly flawless first half, but they collapsed in a 78-63 road loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
Mizzou (7-2, 1-2 SEC) built a lead that swelled to as much as 14 points early in the second half. But Mississippi State (7-4, 2-1) ripped off a 15-0 run then ran away with the game. The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 51-24 in the second half.
“You gotta slowly get stops,” Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin said after the game. “Then you gotta execute on the other side of the basketball. I thought we had some shots that just didn’t go in in the second half. Then all of a sudden we couldn’t get stops and the lead escalated.”
The Tigers impressed in the first half, one where they thrived on both ends of the floor. They only recorded one turnover as the scoring was spread out evenly. The Bulldogs looked lethargic offensively.
It appeared Mizzou was going to cruise to the win with MU guard Xavier Pinson leading the way. He had a career-high eight assists Tuesday, along with 13 points. Mizzou forward Jeremiah Tilmon had a team-high 16 points, following up his career-high performance against Arkansas.
But then Mississippi State flipped the switch after halftime. The Bulldogs shot 67.9% in the second half and outrebounded the Tigers 37-22 for the game. It was the DJ Stewart Jr. show. He scored 24 points, including 13 straight Bulldog points in the game-swinging run.
“We knew their bigs were physical,” Martin said. “They were key put-backs. They had six offensive rebounds in the first half. In the second half, they had key ones.”
The Tigers, one of the best teams in the nation drawing fouls, shot just six free throws. They had another subpar three-point shooting game, finishing at 27.8%. Mizzou showed some life when the Bulldogs made their huge run, but long scoring droughts plagued the Tigers in the loss.
Missouri returns to Columbia to host LSU at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 10:05 PM.