Missouri men’s basketball traveled to a different Columbia than it calls home for its final road game of the season.

The Tigers faced the South Carolina Gamecocks Tuesday night in Columbia, South Carolina, in the second to last regular-season SEC game for each team.  

With the conference tournament looming, both programs looked for an opportunity to boost their conference record in hopes of obtaining a higher seed. 

Missouri once again aimed to snap its losing streak but fell short, losing 73-69, despite staging a second-half comeback attempt. 

The game started off slow for both teams, previewing what would be a poor offensive half from both sides.

The Tigers shot 32% from the field in the first half, while the Gamecocks finished 35.3% from the field in the first half.

But the difference between the two teams came on the glass and handling the ball. Missouri committed nine total turnovers in the first half compared to South Carolina’s five. 

On top of that, South Carolina collected two more offensive rebounds than Missouri in the first half, allowing the Gamecocks to attempt nine more shots than the Tigers in the first 20 minutes. 

This is something Missouri has struggled with all year, due to its weakness on the boards and taking care of the basketball. 

South Carolina entered halftime with a 30-24 lead. Early in the second half, the Gamecocks would extend that lead to as large as 14, when Missouri started to make a comeback.

Behind senior guard Javon Pickett’s career-high 23 points and junior forward Kobe Brown’s 19 points and eight rebounds, the Tigers started their comeback attempt with about 14 minutes remaining in the game, when Missouri trailed 45-31.

Missouri pieced together a 7-0 run to bring its deficit to single digits and continued to stay competitive for the rest of the game.

The Tigers cut the lead down to one possession with under two and a half minutes to play after a pair of free throws from Brown. 

South Carolina knocked down two free throws of its own on the following possession, but Pickett quickly answered with a basket in the paint, cutting the deficit back down to 3. 

After a turnover from the Gamecocks, Pickett grabbed a rebound and found himself at the free throw line with the chance to cut the lead to 1 point.

Pickett drained both attempts at the line with 1:34 to play, making the next defensive possession the Tigers’ most important one of the night. 

However, Missouri defense allowed South Carolina to convert an and-1, giving them a two-possession lead. 

After that, the Tigers were forced to play the foul game and could not complete the second half comeback, losing 73-69.

This marks the sixth straight loss for Missouri, the longest in head coach Cuonzo Martin’s tenure. 

The Tigers return home to face the SEC-worst Georgia Bulldogs in their final regular season game of the year on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com