Missouri forward Mitchell Smith made it to the end of regulation with four fouls. He lasted less than thirty seconds in overtime.

The versatile big man, lauded as a “credit card” that you can’t leave your home without for his defense, committed a blocking foul after he tried to take a charge with his feet in the restricted area. The refs made the correct call, starting a chain of mistakes for the Tigers as they faded down the stretch in an overtime loss to Arkansas.

“You’re talking about an experienced guy,” Martin said. “And like I said to him, he has to be better at not fouling out in games.”

That chain culminated in Missouri’s final possession, with the Tigers down by three. Xavier Pinson tried every move he could to shake himself open for three, but Arkansas guard Davonte Davis wasn’t having it.

Davis stayed with Pinson step-for-step, and Pinson had no choice but to fire a desperation 3-pointer with five seconds to play.

With Davis’s hand in Pinson’s face the entire time, it wasn’t close. The shot hit nothing but air, and the subsequent Arkansas free throws finished off the game.

“That wasn’t the shot we were looking for,” Martin said. “It’s a play we execute in practice, but it certainly wasn’t the shot we were looking for.”

Pinson put forth a bounce-back performance on Saturday, scoring 23 on five-of-eight shooting from beyond the arc. But his shot selection, which has been a thorn in Martin’s side in the past, came back to haunt him.

“If he had a clean shot, shoot it,” Martin said. “But I don’t think that was a clean look.”

Missouri forced overtime after some stunning execution at the end of regulation. With less than 10 seconds to go, guard Dru Smith crossed up an Arkansas defender and dribbled into the paint with his right hand.

As the help defender came over, Smith somehow found Parker Braun on the left block. Braun avoided 7’3” monster Connor Vanover and finished a beautiful reverse layup for the tie.

On Arkansas’ next possession, Braun sent back a shot from Davis to send the game to overtime.

“It gets the job done, you know, being on the baseline and being ready for any pass that comes my way because I know guys like Dru and X are always gonna make plays, and if my guy steps up I gotta be ready to make the next one,” Braun said.

But as overtime began, beginning with Mitchell Smith’s foul-out, Missouri’s execution faltered.

For one, the interior defense suffered. With Mitchell Smith gone, Jeremiah Tilmon out following a death in his family and Kobe Brown not playing down the stretch due to cramps, the Tigers had to play Braun and four guards throughout overtime.

That lack of a presence down low led to another mistake with 35 seconds to go and a one-point lead for the Tigers. Javon Pickett, still nursing an ankle injury, checked into the game for Pinson because Martin believed he’d provide a defensive presence.

Instead, Pickett allowed Davis to cut in behind him on the left block.

“They got a backdoor play,” Martin said. “That hurt.”

Davis received the pass and made an uncontested layup, taking a lead that the Razorbacks would not relinquish.

“I think that was definitely a challenge, that backdoor,” Braun said.

After Arkansas took the lead, Dru Smith looked to take matters into his own hands. He drove and put up a layup with the left hand, but Razorback guard Jalen Tate blocked it.

The block was initially ruled goaltending, but replay clearly showed that he swatted the ball before it hit the backboard. The refs made the correct call after the review, but Missouri got a second chance because of a technicality. Because the play stopped, the possession arrow decided who got the ball, and it went to Missouri.

Missouri, and Dru Smith in particular, got a second chance. And with that second chance, Smith turned it over. He tried to drive to the left and pass to Braun, but with too much traffic in the paint, Arkansas took the ball away with less than 15 seconds left.

The Razorbacks made the subsequent free throws, Pinson missed the shot, and Missouri lost a close game for only the second time all season.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say [the overturned goaltending] deflated us,” Martin said. “We still got the ball, we still had a possession, we got to execute what we’re trying to do.”

_Edited by Caitlin Danborn | cdanborn@themaneater.com_