Missouri men’s basketball had pulled close wins out of nowhere game after game this season, and it looked like the Tigers were about to do it again. No Missouri fan could be blamed for being confident after the Tigers tied LSU at 80 with about 1:20 to go.

Then LSU sophomore forward Trendon Watford hit a running jumper and Missouri junior guard Xavier Pinson followed it by bricking one of his own. LSU got the ball back and hit two free throws. Missouri’s luck down the stretch ran out on Saturday, as did its playmaking ability.

The Tigers lost, 86-80, and will be the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament.

“I don’t really know,” Dru Smith said when asked what went wrong with the offense down the stretch. “We ran a couple plays, but we were really kind of getting out in transition. And we were just running more than anything. I didn’t feel like we were running a lot of sets.”

The loss particularly hurt because it came on Senior Day, as the Tigers honored guards Mark Smith, Dru Smith and Drew Buggs, as well as forwards Mitchell Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon after the game.

While each senior will have an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of them spoke to the media in the past couple of weeks. Based on what they said, it seems as though Saturday’s tilt with LSU will be their last game at Mizzou Arena.

“Obviously, we would’ve loved to win the game on Senior Day, and everything, but we gotta forget about it,” Dru Smith said. “We got a whole new season coming up.”

Missouri fell behind early, trailing by as many as 11 in the first half. Star freshman guard Cameron Thomas led the charge for LSU, scoring 29 points — well above his average of 22.8, which is good for first in the SEC and fourth in the country.

Thomas shot nine-for-13 from the field, including several impressive contested jumpers throughout the game. He also made his money at the free throw line, making 10 of his 12 shots from there.

Fouls became an issue for Missouri down the stretch. No one fouled out, but four of the Tigers’ five starters reached four fouls. Two early whistles forced Dru Smith to sit much more of the first half than Martin would have liked, and Tilmon picked up his fourth with 14 minutes to go, hamstringing Missouri throughout the second half.

Many calls were warranted, and a result of Thomas’s offensive skill set. Others were… not.

“He’s a guy that does a great job of getting to the free throw line and getting fouls,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said, crediting Thomas as opposed to blaming the refs. “He probably shot 100-plus more free throws than anybody on his team.”

Missouri’s plan A heading into the game was feeding Tilmon, but multiple LSU defenders hounded him every time the ball got anywhere near him.

“Of course, we knew the game plan,” Martin said. “They were gonna make it tough on Jeremiah Tilmon. He wasn’t gonna be the guy that beat them tonight. Just gotta make the necessary plays to win the game.”

With Tilmon only taking three field goal attempts the entire game and Smith in foul trouble, Pinson became Missouri’s top scoring option, but he briefly went out with an injury. He went up for a contested layup, drew contact but no foul and banged his head on an empty chair on the LSU baseline.

Pinson lay on the floor for some time, got back up and walked gingerly to the Missouri bench, still holding the back of his head. But he came back into the game and started the second half on fire, scoring five points early and setting up sophomore forward Kobe Brown with a nifty no-look pass on a fast break.

That being said, Pinson’s performance won’t be remembered for that. It will be remembered for driving into the lane, creating an open shot for himself, but hesitating and clanging it off the rim.

“We had an option where we were looking for,” Martin said. “Of course, you don’t want him taking that type of shot, but if you got a clean pull-up in the lane… Of course, X would take that shot back if he could.”

LSU corralled the rebound, made their free throws and doomed Missouri to an underwhelming 9-8 record in SEC play.

_Edited by Hope Davis | hdavis@themaneater.com_