Sunday night’s Southeastern Conference matchup between No. 11 Mizzou and No. 9 South Carolina was intense before the ball was even tipped. Both teams came into the night sitting at 17-3 with two conference losses, meaning the loser would be pushed even further out of contention for the top spot in the SEC.
A night of scrappy basketball, which included two Tigers being ejected during a scrum in the second quarter of player, ultimately caught up to Mizzou, which fell 64-54 at South Carolina. It was the Tigers’ second consecutive loss, pushing them to 5-3 in the SEC.
Although Mizzou only held the lead for 6:49 of the game, the team tied with Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks seven times and found itself within striking distance multiple times late.
South Carolina’s Tyasha Harris led all scorers with 19 points, while A’ja Wilson had 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Gamecocks. As a team, South Carolina outrebounded the Tigers 39 to 33 and had 14 offensive rebounds to Mizzou’s seven. The Gamecocks also made their mark by beating Mizzou in every way in the turnover department.
The Gamecocks not only forced more turnovers — 13 to 8 — than the Tigers, but they also created 21 points off of turnovers, whereas Mizzou had just six.
The Tigers were also in foul trouble early and often, totaling 20 team fouls and creating several opportunities for South Carolina to head to the line. The Gamecocks finished the night 17 of 24 from the free-throw line, while Mizzou went just 3 for 6 from the stripe.
The Tigers’ next game will be at home on Feb. 1 against undefeated No. 2 Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m.
_Edited by Bennett Durando | bdurando@themaneater.com_