The Missouri Tigers were red hot (and newly ranked). They went ice cold against Texas
When the opponent is shooting just 34% from the field — and 20% from deep — you’d hope the outcome would be a lot better.
But that doesn’t take into consideration that the freshly ranked No. 22 Mizzou Tigers shot just 31.3% from the field in Tuesday’s 61-53 loss to Texas (13-6, 2-4 SEC).
“I thought it was an unbelievably physical game,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said on the Tigers’ postgame radio show. “I think our guys did a great job of responding. I thought us getting in early foul trouble, it impacted our intensity.”
Three Missouri starters finished with four fouls, while three other Tigers finished with three.
The Longhorns got their first SEC win just last week against the other SEC newcomer Oklahoma. They’ve had a rather rough welcome to the conference with four losses, including three against ranked teams (No. 1 Auburn, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Tennessee), but can now add a ranked SEC win to their resume.
The Tigers entered this game No. 2 in the SEC in field goal percentage (59.2% prior), and third in 3-point percentage (37.9%). But Mizzou was about as cold as the winter weather in the U.S. right now, going 15-for-48 from the field and 4-for-22 from 3.
“I just think we shot a low percentage at the rim,” Gates noted.
Against the Arkansas Razorbacks in last Saturday’s win, the Tigers shot 46% from the field and 47.8% from deep.
Conversely, Tuesday’s contest had only 11 combined points by the second media timeout, but the Longhorns pulled away in the final moments of the half, leading 32-25 at the break.
“You saw in the first 10 minutes, you’d think it was a football score,” Gates said, per TSTV Sports.
The Tigers came into the second half much hotter than the first — at one point taking a three point lead with 5:49 left — but they proceeded to not make another field goal until Tamar Bates’ layup with 18 seconds remaining.
By that point, it was too late for the Tigers to recover.
And while the cold shooting from Mizzou closely mirrored the Longhorns, there was one key difference: The Tigers had four second-chance points. Texas had 20.
“Second-chance points is the difference in the game,” Gates said. “Every (other) category was pretty much similar.”
Bates was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 10 points. He was the only Tiger in double-digits on the night. Arthur Kaluma led the Longhorns with 14 points.
Next up: The Tigers head back home on Jan. 25 to host Ole Miss. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 10:52 PM.
