Men’s Basketball Rally Falls Short to Ole Miss

Columbia, Mo. – University of Missouri men’s basketball trimmed a 21-point deficit down to just two points but Ole Miss held off the Tigers for an 84-78 victory on Saturday night at Mizzou Arena.

Graduate Sean East II continued his offensive stride putting up 27 points, his fifth-straight 20-point game – making 10-of-12 shots and going 3-of-4 from three.

Three other Tigers reached double-digits in points. Sophomore Aidan Shaw and junior Tamar Bates put up 13 points and graduate Nick Honor added 12. Shaw also led the Tigers with nine rebounds, tying a career high set against Arkansas-Pine Bluff earlier this season.

After a strong opening start, which featured a highlight dunk from Shaw and 10 early points from East, Ole Miss took control midway through the period. The Rebels used a strong interior defense during a 22-3 run, opening up a 19-point lead at the break, 45-26.

Mizzou opened the scoring with a dunk from Shaw, setting the opening pace. In a back-and-forth game with the Rebels, East led the way, scoring 10 of the Tigers’ first 12 points. Bates added a three-pointer before an eight-point run by Ole Miss to turn their two-point deficit into a six-point lead. Ole Miss would continue to dominate with a 14-3 run to widen their lead by 15 points. The Tigers would end the half in a 19-point deficit despite a last-second layup from East.

Freshman Anthony Robinson II came out strong in the second half with an assist, a layup after his third steal of the night and a 3-pointer to chip away at the Rebel lead, cutting it to 12 less than six minutes into the period. The Tigers continued to trade baskets with the Rebels for the next couple of minutes before making one final push.

An alley-oop dunk by Shaw from Honor started an eight-point run by the Tigers to bring the team within seven, 70-63. Mizzou followed with another 6-0 run shortly after that to cut its deficit down to just two points, 73-71, with 1:45 remaining.

The last-ditch efforts from the Tigers were not enough, however, as the Rebels made their final free throws during the last 35 seconds to secure the 84-78 victory.

Missouri finished the game shooting 54.0 percent from the field, while Ole Miss nearly matched the Tigers, shooting 50.0 percent from the field.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will play their last home game of the season Tuesday night against Auburn. First tip is set for 8 p.m. at Mizzou Arena with Senior Night to follow the home finale.