Missouri men’s basketball bounced back after a rough outing versus the Alabama Crimson Tide on Jan. 27, defeating Mississippi State 84-79. The Tigers had near wire-to-wire control of the game, only giving up the lead for a brief moment in the first half, in what was one of their more complete performances thus far in Southeastern Conference play.
Missouri scored on each of its first four offensive possessions to open the game. The pairing of sophomore guard T.O. Barrett and junior forward Trent Pierce sparked the early run, scoring 12 and eight first-half points, respectively. The rest of the Tigers rallied around their energy, taking a comfortable 42-35 lead heading into the break.
The second half was a significantly more complete performance for Missouri, as the Tigers maintained control of the lead for the entire period. Senior forward Mark Mitchell did his part, finishing with 19 points — 12 of which came in the second half.
Although Barrett couldn’t replicate his first half performance, the 6-foot-4 guard still had himself a game, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Mississippi State’s upperclassmen guard duo of Josh Hubbard and Jayden Epps did their best to keep the game competitive, combining for 55 of the team’s 76 points. However, an overall sloppy team performance, which saw the Bulldogs record 14 turnovers, was too much to overcome.
In less encouraging news, sophomore guard Annor Boateng took a scary fall midway through the second half for the Tigers and had to leave the game on a stretcher. When asked about the injury postgame, head coach Dennis Gates couldn’t provide a significant update, but expressed serious concern.
“Speedy recovery to Annor Boateng,” Gates said. “Don’t know the specifics yet, but nine times out of ten, he’ll be out for the remainder of the season.”
All in all, this win pushed the Tigers to 15-7 on the season and 5-4 in conference play. Missouri will get a week-long break before it’s back in action Feb. 7 to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
