The Tigers, led by the senior forward, put up an offensive showing to remember — leading by double digits for the entire second half en route to a victory over the visiting Tigers.
Video by Eric Keikeben
Just one game removed from an NCAA tournament resume-building win against No. 12 ranked Iowa State, Missouri men’s basketball returned to Mizzou Arena for the second game of its home stand, prepared to face the visiting Louisiana State Tigers in a cross-division Southeastern Conference matchup.
The Tigers entered the game as heavy favorites and looked to build on the success found against the Cyclones — succeeding in an 87-77 victory.
To do so, they would need to find a way to score consistently against a high-powered LSU offense led by fifth-year senior forward KJ Williams — the SEC’s third leading scorer.
And in the first half, senior Noah Carter did just that.
The 6-foot-6 forward was perfect behind the arc in his first three attempts, registering a quick 9 points and even grabbing a pair of rebounds to help the Tigers build a double-digit lead in the first eight minutes of the game.
From there, Kobe Brown and the Tigers just kept on rolling.
Missouri added three more 3-pointers — one each from the guard duo of DeAndre Gholston and Isiaih Mosley, as well as Brown — to extend its lead, which ballooned to 18 points with under eight minutes to play. Once again, Brown, the Tigers’ starting forward, proved his ability to score from anywhere on the court.
After a 9-0 LSU run, Missouri found itself needing to reapply pressure on the defensive end to keep LSU out of reach. The Tigers succeeded for the most part, erasing a couple of LSU 3s with matching offensive possessions, led by Brown, who had a late fast-break dunk to re-energize the crowd.
By the end of the first half, the All-SEC senior managed to score 17 points, and the Tigers had outscored, out-assisted and out-shot LSU — taking a commanding 48-35 lead to the locker room.
The second half told a similar story. LSU had no answer for Brown, and he knew it.
Brown added another 7 points to his total to go along with two more assists and rebounds, forcing two LSU timeouts just six minutes into the half.
At the midway point of the half, Missouri kept shooting well, especially from 3. On the night, the Tigers shot 13-27 from 3 — one made short of 50%, which helped them keep a consistent lead.
Gholston led the offense when Brown was on the bench, scoring 14 points in just 19 minutes. And as the second half clock wound down, LSU’s window for a comeback grew smaller — unable to get within single digits of the Tigers.
Both teams went back and forth for the final minutes of the game, but Missouri came out with a 87-77 victory to add a ninth game to LSU’s losing streak. Brown finished with 26 points and eight rebounds. Despite the high-performing offense, the Tiger defense had a solid showing as well, holding LSU to a double-digit deficit the entirety of the second half.
The win brought the Tigers’ conference record above .500, while simultaneously knocking LSU into a three-way tie for last place in the SEC.
Next up for the Tigers is a Saturday trip to Starkville — where they will face a struggling Mississippi State team — in hopes of adding a fourth win to their streak. Tipoff from Humphrey Coliseum will be at 5 p.m.
Edited by Davis Wilson | dwilson@themaneater.comCopy edited by Mary Philip