Missouri Tigers win streak snapped at Arkansas. Here’s what happened to Dennis Gates’ team
It may be February, but let Saturday’s matchup between No. 15 Mizzou (20-7, 9-5 SEC) and Arkansas (16-11, 5-9) serve as a reminder that’ll be in everyone’s mind soon.
Anything can happen in March.
The Tigers, fresh off their third top-5 win of the season against No. 4 Alabama, took a trip to Fayetteville and were on the losing end of a 92-85 upset to head coach John Calipari’s Razorbacks.
Uncharacteristic is one word that would sum up the Tigers’ play on Saturday. Mizzou struggled with turnovers, turning the ball over 18 times compared to its average of 10.5 per game. The Razorbacks took advantage and scored 30 points off those miscues. Five of those turnovers came on the first nine Mizzou possessions.
The Razorbacks also dominated the battle at the free-throw line, scoring 28 points off 37 attempts. The Tigers didn’t see nearly as much success, going 13-for-17.
“We didn’t give ourselves the opportunity to get out to a good start,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “We won the rebounding battle, but when you have 18 turnovers that’s going to their 30 points, and there’s a 20-point difference from the free-throw line, those are things you can’t do on the road and expect to win.”
Tigers sharpshooter Caleb Grill was also notably cold. Despite ranking among the nation’s top 3-point shooters (45.7% entering Saturday), Grill went just 2-for-12 from 3-point range against the Razorbacks, highlighted by a cold second half in which he didn’t connect with the bucket at all (0-for-7 from 3).
The absence of big man Josh Gray was felt in this loss, as Gray was sidelined due to illness. The Razorbacks put up 44 points in the paint to the Tigers’ 26 without their starting center.
“Josh is a very important piece to us,” Gates said. “When you look at his experience, his size, his ability to protect the paint, ball-screen defense, he kind of relieves us in that manner. Of course we missed him.”
Despite all that went wrong, the Tigers kept close with Arkansas.
The Razorbacks took an early 9-4 lead into the first media timeout, but the Tigers went on a 10-0 run around the 8:30 mark to take the lead before halftime. MU led 48-41 at the break.
The Razorbacks charged back and regained the lead with 15:33 to play. They led by double-digits with six minutes remaining.
Mizzou cut that deficit to five — with chances to get closer in the final minute — but was unable to complete the second-half comeback.
Up next for Missouri basketball
Saturday’s loss moves Mizzou back into a tie for fourth place in the SEC with Tennessee and Texas A&M. The Tigers have four games left to lock in a top-4 seed for the SEC Tournament, ensuring a trip to the conference tournament quarterfinals.
The next challenge is South Carolina (11-16, 1-13 SEC). The Gamecocks are coming off their first conference win on Saturday, an 84-69 victory over Texas. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on ESPNU as the Tigers head home on Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM.
