Missouri men’s basketball came a single basket away from pulling off an unexpected victory.
When the final buzzer sounded after 40 minutes of action-packed play, Mizzou Arena was left with nothing but silence and defeat. Missouri failed to finish off a miracle upset in its return to Columbia, losing a Tuesday night thriller to the No. 1 Auburn Tigers 55-54.
After the teams traded baskets to start play, the hometown Tigers wasted no time. They jumped out and exploded for a 10-0 first half run in front of a packed student section.
While Auburn slowly began to wake up offensively, burning Missouri with a handful of jump shots to end the early run, the game remained closely contested throughout the first half.
Then, with just under five minutes to go until the end of the half, junior forward Kobe Brown picked up his second foul and was forced to sit down during the stretch run. The loss of Brown shifted the game’s momentum, as Auburn would go on an 8-0 run of its own in the ensuing minute and a half. Yet, the rest of the team stepped up for the last 180 ticks and sent the game to the intermission all square at 31 apiece.
Missouri held Auburn to just 36.7% shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes while out- rebounding the top-ranked Auburn Tigers 22-15. Missouri also led in second-chance points by a margin of 8-1.
The second half began much differently than the first, with neither team producing on offense. It became clear early on that the rest of the game would be a slow, gritty style of basketball.
Missouri continued its relentless attack on the defensive side, holding Auburn to just 9 points for the first 11 minutes of the second period. They held the visitors to a lowly 25% from the field in the second and an uninspiring 1-12 from beyond the arc.
However, Missouri never managed to put together a consistent push of its own on offense to pull away, shooting on just 30.4% efficiency and a 14.3% clip from deep.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Missouri showing was its defense against forward Jabari Smith, Auburn’s star freshman and projected NBA lottery pick, whom the defense held to a forgettable 5 points on 2-15 shooting on the night.
Although Missouri all but eliminated Smith from the offensive equation, another Auburn star proved to be its downfall. With just under two and a half minutes remaining, Missouri clung to a slim one-point lead following a clutch play and two made free throws from sophomore forward Ronnie DeGray III, but Auburn sophomore guard K.D. Johnson was determined to help the visitors escape the upset.
With just 1:27 to go, Johnson converted a crucial and-one to put Auburn ahead. Hope of a victory slipped away even farther after Johnson scored a second consecutive basket off a Missouri turnover to put his team in the driver’s seat with a 55-51 lead.
Although senior guard Javon Pickett drilled a 3-point shot to cut the deficit to one, Missouri elected not to foul Auburn on the following possession. After failing to collect the defensive rebound, the Tigers saw the clock run out and their hopes of a season-defining win disappear once and for all.
After the game, Pickett — who led Missouri in scoring with 17 points — shared what exactly led to the Tigers failing to put up a shot attempt on the last possession.
“The thought was getting a stop, getting up the court,” Pickett said, regarding the final possession of the game. “We had enough time to get the ball up the court once we had it, [but] the ball just went out, and that was the game.”
Despite the game ending in disappointment, Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin remained optimistic that his team would take away some positives from the tough defeat.
“[It’s a] tough pill to swallow,” Martin said. “But we’ll learn from it.”
Missouri will travel to Aimes, Iowa, this Saturday to play its second straight ranked opponent, the No. 23 Iowa State Cyclones. The one-off late season hiatus from SEC play is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
Edited by Riley Gearhart | rgearhart@themaneater.com
