Mizzou Men’s Basketball Comes Close Against Ole Miss But Unable to Close the Deal

The Missouri Tigers led by as much as ten in the second half but couldn’t hold on against Ole Miss.

Nick Honor drove through the Ole Miss defense, looking to seize an opportunity to score inside. But the ball was tipped. Honor fell flat on his face trying to recover. Jordan Butler tripped over himself. All they could do was watch as Ole Miss’ Allen Flannigan raced down to authoritatively slam the ball through the net.

That five-second scene encapsulated all that Missouri Tigers men’s basketball went through in the final 10 minutes of Saturday night’s game as they fell 79-76 to Ole Miss.

As Honor did while driving inside, the opportunity to secure their first win after 11-straight losses was right in front of them. The Tigers trailed by only one with two seconds remaining. They fell flat on their face, stumbled over their own feet and lost the race.

Missouri led by as much as 10 points in the second half. The Tigers were in control of the pace and intensity for most of the first 30 minutes of the game. A 15-2 run in the middle of the first half gave Missouri a 25-22 lead 12 minutes into the game after a slow start offensively.

The Tigers seemed to be rejuvenated from the return of leading scorer Sean East. The graduate guard missed the last two games for Missouri due to a knee injury. In the first 11 minutes alone, East was up to 15 points and would end the first half with four assists. His playmaking ability and energy was apparent after his two-game absence. He wound up leading the team in points on Saturday with 25, his highest tally as a Missouri Tiger.

But East, as did the rest of Missouri, slowed down halfway through the second period. Ole Miss took the life out of Missouri and chipped away from the Missouri lead with scoring runs of five, nine, and eight points throughout half.

Ole Miss was able to regain control through success from outside the arc. The Rebels were 11-for-21 on three-point shots, with six of the makes coming from senior Matthew Murrell.

The deciding factor on Saturday night though was Ole Miss' 30 shots from the free throw line that led to 22 points, all coming in the second half. The Rebels did not make a single trip to the free throw line in the first half but Missouri's physical approach was not unnoticed by the officials.

The Tigers suffered from many self-inflicted wounds in the second half, including six turnovers. Missouri tried to fight back in the final minutes. A steal from Aidan Shaw led to a layup from Tamar Bates to bring the deficit to only one point with two seconds remaining. However, the Tigers weren’t able to close the deal, running out of time after exchanging multiple trips to the free-throw line.

Missouri will return to Columbia on Tuesday to take on No. 8 Tennessee at 6 p.m.

Live Updates: (most recent updates at the top)

Second Half:

FINAL: Missouri 76, Ole Miss 79

0:2.9 - Sean East draws a foul at half court

0:4.3 - Ole Miss makes both. Missouri 74, Ole Miss 77

0:4.3 - Missouri fouls Ole Miss

0:05 -  Aidan Shaw steal leads to Tamar Bates layup. One point game. Missouri 74, Ole Miss 75

0:38 - Murrell makes a free throw, Missouri 68, Ole Miss 72

0:59 - Two more free-throws for Carter, both made. Missouri 68, Ole Miss 71

1:46 - Noah Carter makes two free throws, Missouri down by 5. Missouri 66, Ole Miss 71

3:05 - Costly turnover from Sean East on a crucial offensive possession. Missouri 62, Ole Miss 69

7:21  - Sean East gets first free throw opportunity for Missouri in the half, makes both. Missouri 60, Ole Miss 61

7:44  - Layup from Ole Miss gives the Rebels their first lead since late in the first half. Missouri 58, Ole Miss 61

10:19 - Murrell makes his sixth three-pointer of the night and Ole Miss is right back in this one. Missouri 56, Ole Miss 52

13:07 - Missouri refusing to back down... A three-point make from Honor is followed by a Tamar Bates dunk to give the Tigers their biggest lead. Missouri 51, Ole Miss 42

14:23 - A few too many self-inflicted wounds for Missouri in this half. Two turnovers and six fouls already.

15:49 - Noah Carter already has four personal fouls this half. Missouri 40, Ole Miss 38

17:54 - A Noah Carter layup gives Missouri its biggest lead of the night of seven. Missouri 40, Ole Miss 33

First Half:

END OF HALF: Missouri 33, Ole Miss 30

0:18 - Tamar Bates knock down Missouri's second three-point shot of the night. Ole Miss calls a timeout. Missouri 33, Ole Miss 30

4:37 - Missouri has struggled to get to the free-throw line but that is not the case tonight. 6-for-8 from the line so far. Ole Miss has made zero trips. Missouri 27, Ole Miss 24

7:00 - Sean East is scoring and easily putting his teammates in positions to succeed. 5-for-5 from the floor for 15 points, and two assists so far. Missouri 23, Ole Miss 22 

10:45 - An three-point make from East caps off an 11-0 run for Missouri to give the Tigers their first lead of the night. Missouri 19, Ole Miss 17

11:50  - Murrell has returned to the court after East sinks two free-throws. Missouri 12, Ole Miss 17

12:07 - Murrell was just seen walking off the court with a trainer.

15:44 - Jaylen Murray joins in on the three-point fun before the U16 timeout. Missouri 6, Ole Miss 12

16:25 - Welcome back, Sean East. Makes a jumper for his first points of the night. Missouri 6, Ole Miss 9

17:50 - ... Make that three-straight threes for Murrell. Missouri 4, Ole Miss 9

19:00 - Murrell already attacking Missouri's zone. Two three-point makes for Murrell to start the game. Missouri 0, Ole Miss 6

Pregame:

Missouri has announced that Sean East will be returning to the lineup tonight

Starting Fives:

Missouri

Tamar Bates

Nick Honor

Sean East II

Jordan Butler

Noah Carter

Ole Miss

Jaylen Murray

Allen Flannigan 

Matthew Murrell

Jaemyn Bakerfield

Mousa Cisse