Mizzou Basketball has three big plays, including dunks from Trent Pierce and Shawn Phillips Jr. along with a big 3-pointer from Jacob Crews. Despite the highlights, Missouri's inconsistencies led to a loss.
Ear doctor appointments in Columbia might be backed up for the foreseeable future, because Missouri basketball just shattered the 10,000-plus eardrums in attendance for the Tigers' home battle against Georgia.
Eruption No. 1
Junior forward Trent Pierce sprinted down the sideline opposite of sophomore guard T.O. Barrett with 15:54 remaining in the second half. Within the next two seconds, Barrett dished a cross-court pass to Pierce, who caught it and stride and barreled toward the rim, where junior Bulldog guard Marcus Millender awaited him.
Pierce gathered the ball and rose above the rim. Millender did — or at least attempted to — simultaneously. Pierce used his 11-inch height difference over his opponenet to his advantage, and threw it down over Millender.
Georgia head coach Mike White was forced into a timeout, which he somehow called for over the raging crowd of Mizzou Arena that had erupted to reach a decibel level of 105.2 during the following timeout, which was even louder the moment the ball went through the net.
Eruption No. 2
The Tigers weren't done head-hunting yet, and Georgia was in the way of the apex predators roaming their home court.
Just under two minutes later, senior center Shawn Phillips Jr. caught a post-entry pass from graduate guard Jayden Stone. Phillips hesitated, scanning the court for the right play.
He found it at the expense of Georgia big Somto Cyril, who Phillips detonated on for a mid-2010s Deandre Jordan-esque poster, once again sending Mizzou Arena into an eruption of cheers.
The Final Eruption
There was a small chance of Mizzou Arena getting even rowdier than it was, and the Tigers' left it up to the one man who could get the job done: Graduate forward Jacob Crews.
As Missouri trailed 69-71 with the clock dwindling down to its final seconds, Crews hit a signature 'Crews Missile' 3-pointer to give Missouri a one-point lead with 20.1 seconds remaining in the game.
And that third eruption of the night was the loudest. The decibel meter displayed on the jumbotron above the hardwood read a number of 108.2 db. Mizzou Arena was electric, and the Tigers' were on the verge of stealing a victory against a ranked opponent.
The Fizzle
Missouri's bright-burning flame ignited by Crews' triple was swiftly put out by Millender — the same Bulldog who Pierce put on a poster earlier that half — who hit and converted an and-1 with 5.5 seconds left. Crews then missed a deep 3-pointer on the final possession of the game.
Missouri clearly won the big-play battle. The loss was the result of inconsistencies rather than important plays — scoring droughts brought Missouri's offense to sputters and stalls throughout the night, including a 10-0 run by Georgia in the first half.
Only Crews (six points on 2-for-4 shooting) and senior forward Mark Mitchell (11 points on 5-for-7 shooting) made multiple field goals in the first half. Crews and graduate guard Jayden Stone joined Mitchell as the only three Tigers to finish the game in double-figure scoring, but their efforts weren't enough.
Missouri ultimately fell to Georgia 74-72 in the Tigers' closest loss of the season. The Tigers are now 3-3 in conference play and have lost back-to-back contests to LSU and Georgia.
Missouri will next host Oklahoma Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m., and will break .500 either way.