Mizzou men’s basketball challenged Eastern Illinois at home, looking to bounce back from last week’s loss to the No. 20 Arizona Wildcats.

In the first half, the Tigers experimented. Junior forward Jordan Barnett, 21, a Texas recruit, made his first appearance on the court along with freshman forward Reed Nikko, 14. Barnett would finish the day with three points and five rebounds, going 1-for-6 from the field including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc in 24 minutes of action. Nikko finished with four points and five rebounds, going 2-for-2 from the field in 11 minutes of action.

By the end of the first half, Missouri led by a narrow margin at 32–30. The Tigers would fall behind in the second half as the Panther offense continued to move the ball and score consistently. While the three-point shooting was not a huge factor, the Panthers still knocked down five more threes than the Tigers did, going 8-for-29 from beyond the arc as opposed to Missouri’s 3-for-18 shooting performance from deep.

In the waning seconds of the game, the Tigers were down by three with just about 10 seconds left in regulation. Missouri sophomore guard Terrence Phillips, 1, would bring the ball down, only to get a shot from the wing that would not fall. The Tigers lost the game 67–64.

For the Panthers, junior guard Montell Goodwin, 4, would prove to be the defining factor on the day, scoring a game-high 22 points on the day on 8-for-16 shooting, including 4-for-8 from deep. For the Tigers, no player scored in the double figures.

Freshman guard Frankie Hughes, 3, and sophomore guard K.J. Walton, 11, would lead the Tigers with only nine points apiece. Up next for the Tigers is the Braggin’ Rights game in St. Louis against the Fighting Illini on Dec. 21.