Kevin Puryear flushed a dunk to open Wednesday night’s game against Ole Miss, but it was Missouri’s 3-point performance that kept the Tigers in the game.
In front of 4,734 fans, the lowest number all year, Mizzou was able to ignite a late second half splurge of perimeter baskets, but it ultimately wasn’t enough as they fell to the Rebels 76-73.
The game began similarly to many this season at Mizzou Arena, but the energy and effort of the team was evident from the tip. By the first media timeout, Missouri led 8-6, and 6 of the Tigers’ points had come off of 3-pointers from sophomore guard Namon Wright and freshman guard Terrence Phillips — the same number Missouri had on Saturday against Mississippi State.
Early on and as expected, Ole Miss senior guard Stefan Moody had it going as evident from a jumper from downtown that allowed Ole Miss to retake the lead, 9-8.
Moody’s success continued as did Ole Miss’ as they held that lead from the 14:41 minute mark in the first half all the way up until halftime.
At the half, Missouri trailed Ole Miss, 35-30.
The second half began with much of the same as Ole Miss was able to extend their lead to 42-32, but that’s when Mizzou was able to claw back. And, of course, it was the freshmen who aided in doing so.
Freshman forward Puryear scored a bucket and a free throw and Phillips hit a trey to cut the lead to 4. Then, junior guard Wes Clark hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 1 and as soon as it appeared Missouri would retake the lead, Ole Miss jumped back out to a 6-point lead.
Again, though, three straight baskets from freshmen Phillips, KJ Walton and Cullen VanLeer, cut the lead to 2 with 9 minutes to play.
Missouri and Ole Miss traded leads as the clock continued to tick and with 13 seconds remaining, a tie-up for the ball between Phillips and Moody resulted in a foul call and two free throws that gave Ole Miss a 74-73 lead.
And ultimately, it held as Clark missed a jumper with four seconds remaining and the Tigers lost.
This was Missouri’s seventh straight loss and the Tigers are now 8-14 (1-8, SEC). They will travel to Alabama on Saturday.