A promising start in the first half quickly eroded into more of the same for the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday night, as the team fell 89-74 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss.
Junior forward Jordan Barnett had 18 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Tigers, who lost their 11th in a row and have not won a true road game since Jan. 28, 2014 against Arkansas. Coach Kim Anderson’s career Southeastern Conference record fell to 6-37, and his 2016-2017 squad’s record dropped to 5-14 overall and 0-7 in the SEC.
The first half began quite well for Mizzou, as the Tigers took advantage of sluggish play from a talented but youthful Bulldog squad, shooting 62 percent from the field and 58 percent from three-point range. Mizzou, who lead by as many as nine in the first half, entered the second half ahead, 43-39. But the wheels came off after halftime.
After shooting so well in the first half, Mizzou couldn’t buy a bucket in the second. The Tigers went 0-9 from long range and 9-32 from the field, good for 32 percent in the half, finishing with 46 percent on the night. The Tigers did shoot 74 percent overall from the free-throw line, but it was not enough to slow a red-hot Bulldog squad in the second half.
Whatever Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said to his team in the locker room at halftime must have worked, as the Bulldogs shot 64 percent from the field and 67 percent from three-point land in the second half.
Mississippi State got the vast majority of its production from sophomore guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, who had a career-high 29 points, and freshman guard Lamar Peters, who had 20 of his 23 points in the second half.
After gaining the lead for the first time on a Weatherspoon jumper with 16:23 to go, the Bulldogs never looked back, making eight of their next nine three-point attempts to pull away from the Tigers. The stretch was highlighted by five straight Bulldog possessions that ended in a Peters three, giving the team a 72-59 lead that it did not come close to giving up for the rest of the game.
The Tigers will take the floor again at Mizzou Arena on Saturday, when the team will look to pick up its first SEC win of the season against the South Carolina Gamecocks, who will enter the game at second place in the SEC. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_