History was made inside of Pete Maravich Assembly Center on March 9. Missouri men’s basketball fell 84-80 to the LSU Tigers, sealing their fate as the first team to go winless in SEC play since the 2018-19 Vanderbilt Commodores. 

Graduate guard Sean East II did his best to stop that from happening, leading all scorers with 26 points on an efficient 10-for-14 shooting from the field. It was his seventh straight game with 20 or more points, becoming the first Tiger since Doug Smith in 1990-91 to have such a streak. 

Graduate forward Noah Carter and junior guard Tamar Bates both joined East in double figures. Carter scored 18 points off the bench, and Bates added 13 of his own.

Missouri got off to a fast start, with graduate guard Nick Honor opening the Tiger scoring with a transition three followed by a Bates transition bucket to put Missouri up 5-2. LSU wasted little time in providing some offense of their own, as they responded with a 9-0 run to take an 11-5 lead. 

Missouri regained the lead on another Honor three at the 10:25 mark, and they would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the half. 

With the teams separated by two points and five-and-a-half minutes to play in the first half, the graduate duo of East and Carter took over. They scored MU’s last 14 points in the half, and the Tigers went into halftime leading 35-29. 

“We were getting stops defensively and were able to push the ball,” Carter said. “We kinda didn’t have to do too much offensively.”

While Carter’s hot streak halted to start the second half, East’s did not. He matched LSU’s first 10 points of the half with 10 of his own, keeping the Missouri lead at 7 just five minutes into the half. 

Things fell apart for Missouri in a matter of minutes. LSU Graduate forward Hunter Dean, fifth-year guard Trae Hannibal and freshman guard Mike Williams III scored 14 unanswered points for LSU, as Missouri’s seven-point lead transitioned to a seven-point deficit.

Missouri tried to fight back with baskets from East and Bates, but the lead quickly ballooned into 19 for the home squad with 4:40 left to play, after a dominant 10 minute-stretch in which LSU outscored Missouri 36-8. 

“They were getting out in transition and getting buckets,” Carter said. “The game kinda flipped on us.”

Dennis Gates’ squad refused to give up. MU scored nine straight points to cut the lead to 10 with a minute-and-a-half to play. 

Missouri brought the game within a possession with baskets from Bates, East, Carter as well as  freshmen Anthony Robinson II and Trent Pierce in the final minute. With MU intentionally fouling LSU and giving them eight free throws in the final minute, the scoring flurry wasn’t enough to get the lead back as LSU sealed their 17th victory of the season. 

“I think our guys did a great job fighting back in that second half,” Gates said. “We almost gave ourselves a chance at the end of the game.”

For Missouri, this loss locks in their regular season record at 8-23. This is the program’s second-worst regular season since Norm Stewart took over the program in 1967, just one game better than 2016-17’s 7-23 regular season mark. The losing streak also stands at an all-time worst 18 games. 

Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com