For one final time in the 2023-24 season, Missouri men’s basketball lost inside of Mizzou Arena. 

Missouri lost in a clash of Tigers, falling to Auburn 101-74 in a foul-filled contest that saw the teams attempt a combined 64 free throws. 

Graduate guard Sean East II capitalized on the excessive whistle, as he led Missouri in his final home game with 21 points, 12 of which came from free throws. 

For the first five minutes of the game, the entirety of Missouri’s offensive attack came courtesy of junior guard Tamar Bates. He opened the scoring with a fadeaway three at the top of the key at the end of the shot clock before connecting on a pull-up jumper and two free-throws. Auburn still controlled the game, taking a 12-7 lead at the 15-minute mark. 

Missouri cut the lead to two on a basket by freshman forward Jordan Butler at 13:24, but Auburn would not allow the game to get within a possession again for 11 minutes. 

With his team trailing by five at the 9:08 mark, frustration began to boil over for Gates. Auburn’s Johni Broome air-balled a layup and was the first to touch the ball. This play typically results in a travel, but the whistle was not blown. The possession ended in free throws for Auburn, and Gates was given a technical foul for arguing against the call. 

Following the Gates technical, Missouri’s offense stalled. The Tigers made just two field goals over the following eight minutes, while turning the ball over three times. 

Despite the poor offensive attack, Missouri was able to keep the game close at the free throw line. The Tigers made 10 shots at the charity stripe — four by East and two apiece from graduate forward Noah Carter, graduate guard Nick Honor and senior forward Jesus Carralero Martin. 

Butler and sophomore forward Aidan Shaw both scored in the final 1:18 of the half, and Missouri went into the locker room trailing 44-39. 

Out of the half, Auburn wasted no time getting their lead back to double digits. Broome scored back-to-back baskets, followed by a three from junior forward Chad Baker-Mazara to put Auburn up 51-39. 

“We just came out flat,” East said. “We didn’t convert on offensive possessions and they capitalized on their first few possessions and that kinda put us back.”   

East cut the lead back to single-digits with an and-one at the 15:30 mark, but that would be the last time the game would be within single digits. 

After the East layup, Auburn went on a 17-9 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes, making the score 72-55 with 10 minutes to go.

East then had one final flurry of action, scoring two and-ones just 13 seconds apart. This cut the lead down to 11, but it was the last significant piece of offense Missouri would be able to muster. 

Over the final 9:25, Auburn went on a 29-13 run to secure their 23rd win of the season.

The loss extended Missouri’s losing streak to 17 games, now losing 20 of their last 21 matchups. 

Edited by Michael Stamps

Edited by Grace Knight | gknight@themaneater.com 

Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com