Missouri Tigers basketball falls to Arkansas Razorbacks, team’s 8th straight loss

Junior guard Tamar Bates scored 29 points for the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team, but coach Dennis Gates’ squad lost 91-84 to Arkansas on Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.

Its Missouri’s eighth straight loss in a season that’s taken a decidedly disappointing turn.

The Tigers trailed most of the way on Wednesday, and at times things seemed to be on the verge of getting out of hand. But MU made a couple of runs to prevent a wider margin of defeat.

Bates’ season high for points came on Jan. 20, when the Kansas City product poured in 36 in a loss to Florida. That was the fifth loss of Mizzou’s current eight-game slide.

The Tigers fell to 8-13 overall and remain winless in SEC play at 0-8.

Akansas improved to 11-10 (2-6 SEC).

Junior guard Tramon Mark led the Hogs with 22 points. Teammate Makhi Mitchell tied a career best with 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds on his 24th birthday.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Another poor shooting performance

It wasn’t a clean day of shooting the basketball for the Tigers.

Only Bates and Connor Vanover finished with efficient numbers from the field. Bates was 9-for-18 while Vanover was 3-for-5 for seven points.

The rest of the team struggled.

Missouri shot just 46% from the field, 32.1% in the first half. The Tigers couldn’t keep pace with Arkansas, which finished an efficient 54.1% from the field.

Sean East II, the Tigers’ leading scorer this season, was 3-for-8 while Noah Carter and Nick Honor knocked down a combined four field goals.

Missouri’s mistakes add salt to wound

The past three games have not showcased Gates’ preferred brand of basketball.

Mizzou prides itself on keeping a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in every game. Against Arkansas, the Tigers turned the ball over 18 times to the Razorbacks’ 14. Worse, Arkansas turned Missouri’s mistakes into positive output, scoring 25 points off the Tigers’ giveaways.

That enabled the Razorbacks to build a 19-point lead at halftime.

This marks the third straight game in which MU has turned the ball over at least 10 times. The Tigers committed 12 turnovers against South Carolina and 15 at Texas A&M.

Missouri fails to defend inside the arc

A key component to the Razorbacks’ efficiency from the field was their ability to score in the paint.

They knocked down just four 3-pointers yet scored their most points in a month. Missouri’s defense had no answer for Arkansas in the paint. The Razorbacks tallied 56 paint points, including nine dunks.

What’s next

Missouri heads back onto the road for the third time in its previous four games. The Tigers play in Nashville at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Vanderbilt. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.

This story was originally published January 31, 2024 at 9:56 PM.