Missouri Tigers falter late and fall to Ole Miss as Rebels complete season hoops sweep
Enough of Ole Miss, Missouri must be saying.
For the second time this season, the Rebels defeated the Tigers men’s basketball team, this time 60-53 on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena.
Two weeks ago, the Tigers wilted at Oxford in a 21-point loss. This one was just as painful.
Missouri, down nine at halftime, got it tied 50-50 on a Jeremiah Tilmon spin move with 2:44 remaining.
By the next time the Tigers scored it was too late. Ole Miss got buckets by Devontae Shuler and KJ Buffen around a Dru Smith miss from 15 feet, and the Rebels were on their way to the season sweep.
No. 24 Missouri fell to 14-7 overall and 7-7 in the SEC. Ole Miss, on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bracket projections, improved to 13-9 and 8-7.
Trailing by 33-24 at halftime, the Tigers got it tied for the first time after the break at 39-39 on Kobe Brown’s stickback. Brown had six points in an 11-0 run. Another big moment was Torrance Watson’s corner three-pointer.
Missouri’s defense was just as responsible for getting the Tigers back in the game. At one point of the second half, the Rebels had seven turnovers and two field goals. Mizzou had five steals in the second half.
The Tigers took their first lead of the second half at 43-41 on Tilmon’s baby left hook. But Missouri couldn’t build on the advantage, and the game was back-and-forth over the final nine minutes until Ole MIss closed it out.