Missouri looks to No. 11 seed Drake in March Madness after an early tournament exit
Missouri sophomore Trent Pierce shoots a three-pointer during the Tigers’ game against Mississippi State on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Missouri advanced to the SEC Quarterfinals on March 14, 2025 against Florida. (Knox Mynatt/Maneater)
No. 21 Missouri traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to take part in the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Tigers started their tournament stint strong, snapping a three-game losing streak against Mississippi State. The buzz was short-lived, though, as Missouri lost to No. 4 Florida in the quarterfinal round. This ended its SEC tournament stint and had the team setting its eyes on March Madness.
Here are three takeaways from the Tigers’ performance.
Mark Mitchell’s absence
After suffering a knee injury in the first half of the game against Mississippi State, Missouri forward Mark Mitchell was ruled out for the quarterfinal game against the Gators.
Mitchell is the leading scorer for the Tigers this season, averaging 14.1 points per game. In his first-half performance against the Bulldogs, he had seven points and went 3-for-4 in the paint.
The void of Mitchell’s absence was also felt in the Tigers’ defensive matchups against Florida, as the Gators were able to score 34 times in the paint. With Mitchell in the game against Mississippi State, the Bulldogs scored only 15 field goals.
Mitchell brings size and the ability to match big men on the defense, which was lacking in the game against Florida. The Gators run two big men in their offense, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, players that Mitchell could’ve guarded if he was in.
Condon and Haugh, who finished with nine and 16 points, respectively, were big parts of Florida’s offensive production against Missouri, often finding ways through the Tiger defense to set up plays. Haugh recorded five assists in the game, the second most on the Gators.
Missouri senior guard Tamar Bates takes a jump shot over Florida sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu during the Tigers’ matchup against Florida on Friday, March 14, 2025, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Bates led the Tigers in scoring, finishing with 16 points. (Knox Mynatt/Maneater)
Many chances, little follow-through
In both games played, Missouri took 40 shots from three and made 12 of them. Tiger graduate guard Caleb Grill was at the front of that total, attempting 15 threes and making three. Missouri as a team clumped up frequently on offense, making it easy for both Florida and Mississippi State to prevent chances from scoring.
The Tigers had many chances against the Gators in the paint but came up short on most of them. Missouri went 30-of-68 within the arch, with senior guard Tamar Bates having the most individual attempts, going seven-for-18. Grill wasn’t far behind, attempting 10 and making three.
Against Florida, Missouri had more possessions than the Gators did. Most of the possessions resulted in the Tigers trying to find space on the perimeter and rely on deep shots to get the offensive edge. Grill frequently found himself in this situation, attempting seven threes and not making one until the second half. Bates wasn’t far behind, attempting four and making one.
Tony Perkins showed out
Missouri graduate guard Tony Perkins notched double-digit points in both of the Tigers’ games in the SEC tournament, finishing second in scoring against Mississippi State. Perkins scored 20 points in Missouri’s game against the Bulldogs, shooting perfectly from the charity stripe and 6-of-10 from the field.
Perkins tied sophomore guard Anthony Robinson II for the second-highest scorer against Florida with 13 points. Perkins also tallied four rebounds against the Gators, leading the Tigers in that category.
Perkins got his first 20-point game of the season against Mississippi State. Perkins had eight games where he scored more than 20 points last season with Iowa, most of them being in in-conference play. Perkins controlled the court against the Bulldogs, often playing a shifty game and finding lanes into the paint for buckets.
Missouri goes to Wichita, Kansas to play No. 11 Drake in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Tournament on March 20 at 6:35 p.m.
Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Ethan Palgon and Emma Short | eshort@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com