Late-game struggles lead to a heartbreaking Mizzou loss in its regular-season finale.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Mizzou basketball (20-11, 10-8 in Southeastern Conference) fell in its regular-season finale to an injury-riddled No. 20 Arkansas squad (23-8, 13-5) in a 88-84 overtime thriller.
The Tigers erased a 15-point deficit to eventually force overtime against the Razorbacks. There were three instances in the extra period in which Missouri had a chance to tie or take the lead in a one-possession game, each served on a silver platter.
While trailing 84-82 with under 40 seconds remaining, Mark Mitchell fired a pass toward Trent Pierce, which resulted in a turnover and subsequent intentional foul.
Missed opportunity No. 1.
Arkansas center Malique Ewin then missed the first of a one-and-one free throw, leading to T.O. Barrett hauling in the rebound. Seconds later, Barrett lost control of the ball and turned it over amidst a swarm of Razorback defenders, leading to another intentional foul.
Missed opportunity No. 2.
Arkansas guard D.J. Wagner then missed both of the following free throws, giving Missouri yet another chance to tie or take the lead while trailing 84-82. However, the Tigers failed to box out, and Ewin grabbed an offensive rebound and sank the eventual game-sealing free throws.
Missed opportunity No. 3.
“They had multiple opportunities at the end,” Gates said. “We just didn't close it.”
Missouri outplayed Arkansas for the majority of the latest chapter of the Battle Line Rivalry. A valid argument could be made that the Tigers won nearly 35:00 of a 40:00 contest.
But a disastrous 6:06 stretch in the first half proved too much to overcome, as Missouri allowed a 17-2 run from 14:31 remaining in the first half to 8:25 remaining in the first half. That run was within a larger Arkansas run of 24-9 that eventually swelled the Razorback lead to 15.
The Tigers trailed 35-20 with 5:32 remaining in the first half. Missouri stormed back and took its first lead of the game with 16:42 remaining in the second half.
The teams then traded blows for the rest of regulation and overtime, but Missouri eventually fell.
Senior forward Mark Mitchell led the Tigers with a Missouri career-high 32 points on 11-for-20 shooting. He eclipsed 1,000 points at Missouri in the contest, reaching the milestone in his final game at Mizzou Arena. He’s the 49th Tiger in to reach 1,000 points with the program in history and the eighth to do so in two seasons.
“He's one of those guys in this league,” Calipari said. “He should be first team all-conference. I would say my guy should be player of the year, but that's because he's my guy.”
As for the Razorbacks, leading scorer Darius Acuff Jr. was ruled out ahead of the contest to heal a nagging leg injury. Former Tiger Trevon Brazile and shooting guard Maleek Thomas elevated in Acuff’s absence, leading Arkansas in scoring. Thomas poured in 28 points while shooting 5-for-6 from 3-point range, while Brazile dropped 19 points while hauling in 9 rebounds and logging four stocks.
“I knew he'd make that shot when we said it to throw back to him,” Arkansas head coach John Calipari said of Brazile. “He's been great… It’s been a great run for him. He's become the player that we all think he can be.”
With the loss, Missouri now misses out on a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. It will, however, likely have a first-round bye, meaning the Tigers will begin postseason play on Thursday.
After the SEC Tournament, they’ll look to make a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the Tigers can make back-to-back tournament appearances for the first time under Gates.
“We're obviously the tournament team,” Mark Mitchell said. “If you're a basketball watcher, I think we're definitely deserving.”