Mizzou basketball loses home winning streak in final seconds vs. No. 21 Georgia
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- Mizzou lost 74-72 to No. 21 Georgia on a last-second layup and free throw.
- Tigers' 11-game home winning streak ended; team fell to 13-6 overall and 3-3 SEC.
- Early offense slow; game picked up down the stretch.
In a physical Tuesday night showdown, the Missouri Tigers fell just short of taking down 21st-ranked Georgia in a game that began as a slow burn and turned into a pressure cooker down the stretch.
A last-second Georgia layup and free throw sank the Tigers 74-72.
Down 68-65 with 2:35 to play, the Tigers stayed in the game, even after a 3 from Georgia’s Marcus “Smurf” Millender with 1:50 to play. The Tigers eventually forced a stop and had possession down two with 35 seconds to go.
After a timeout, the Tigers drew up a look for sharpshooter Jacob Crews, the Southeastern Conference’s 3-point leader, who drained it to give Mizzou a 72-71 lead with 18 seconds left.
Both teams called timeout before Millender drove the paint around 7-footer Shawn Phillips Jr. and threw up a layup and collected a foul. He sank the ensuing free throw with 5.5 seconds left.
Mizzou’s last shot from Crews (11 points, five rebounds) at 30 feet was heavily guarded and clanked off front rim as the buzzer sounded.
After the buzzer, Millender stepped over Crews, who fell to the ground after his shot, and waved to the crowd, causing a skirmish between Crews and Georgia players. Crews was walked back by coaches and players as head coach Dennis Gates opted to skip the postgame handshake to avoid another dust-up.
“I told Georgia to walk off,” Gates said after the game. “I didn’t want (the) players to get in any kind of altercation. They got heated. It was a tough game. They did a great job.”
The Tigers’ 11-game home win streak is over. They fell to 3-3 in SEC play, 13-6 overall, further hurting their chances at a postseason run.
Inefficiency was the theme of the first half, with both teams shooting near 35% from the floor and under 30% from 3.
Georgia used an 11-0 run to take a 10-point lead with less than nine minutes to go. The Bulldogs scored nearly half of their first-half points (13) off Tigers turnovers.
Mizzou answered with its own 10-0 run over the next three minutes to tie the score at 20. Both teams battled for the rest of the half, as Georgia took a 29-26 lead to the break.
“I think we were just a little rattled,” Kansas City native and senior forward Mark Mitchell said. “We didn’t get to exactly what we wanted to prepare for with their switching. We got the switches and the matchups we wanted exactly, but just didn’t execute it quite as well.
“I think once we flowed into the game and got into our rhythm, I think we started attacking it (better).”
The Tigers got a second-half spark from forward Trent Pierce, in only his sixth game this year due to injury, and another from guard T.O. Barrett to give them their largest lead of the game early in the second half at 46-39.
Their scoring boost gave fans in Mizzou Arena some energy. A one-handed fast-break dunk by Pierce brought fans to their feet before the first media timeout of the second half.
Georgia answered again, but Mizzou began to slowly increase its lead thanks to baskets from Mitchell, Phillips and Crews. The Tigers led 59-55 with less than nine minutes to go.
Mitchell paced Mizzou with 18 points and five rebounds. Graduate guard Jayden Stone surpassed 1,000 career points as he collected 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Georgia guards Blue Cain and Millender were crucial down the stretch, hitting shots and adding to UGA’s swarming defense that caused late Mizzou turnovers.
The Tigers ended the night shooting 40% from the field and 28% from 3. The Bulldogs also shot 28% from beyond the arc and 37% from the field.
Mizzou fell short in some of the things that Gates has harped on.
The Tigers only missed one of their 12 free throws. But Georgia only missed three of its 21 attempts.
Mizzou also lost the rebounding battle 44-39 and in bench points 29-17.
Gates has said the team goes as junior guard Anthony Robinson II goes. Robinson only tallied four points, making one of his seven shots from the field, including four 3-point attempts. The fourth-year Mizzou coach is demanding more of one of his top scorers moving forward.
“Ant Robinson has to get to the line. He has to ignite his team. He has to organize his offense, and he’ll be better,” Gates said.
As the Tigers get into the meat of conference play, while looking to boost their NCAA Tournament resume, Gates’ message remains the same:
Keep moving forward.
“We’ve got to be able to stay above .500 in the next six games. That’s the art of a full season,” Gates said. “Try to stay healthy. Understand wins are going to come and go. You’ve got to be able to bounce back if you fail to get a win, and we’ve got to bounce back.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 10:53 PM.
