Tigers Win it Late Over Mississippi State, 66-64

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Graduate student Nick Honor hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Missouri men’s basketball team to a 66-64 victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday night. The Tigers improve to 20-8 on the season and 8-7 in SEC play, while Mississippi State drops to 18-10 and 6-9 in conference action.

A back-and-forth affair saw the game’s most-thrilling action saved for the final minute of the extra session. Trailing by two, senior forward Noah Carter sank a three to go up 63-62 with 51 seconds to play. The Bulldogs countered on the ensuing possession with a jumper in the lane to lead, 64-63, with 20.5 ticks left.

Honor, however, answered for the Tigers. The point guard brought the ball up the court trailing by one, pulled up from beyond the arc and sunk the biggest shot of his Mizzou career for the go-ahead basket with less than eight seconds remaining. The Tigers then responded with their biggest stop of the game on the defensive end to secure the 66-64 win in front of 12,014 fans at Mizzou Arena.

Senior forward Kobe Brown led the Tigers with 17 points — notching his 21st game of the season in double figures. Graduate guard D’Moi Hodge finished right behind Brown with 16, while classmate Tre Gomillion posted a season-best 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

The opening half featured a back-and-forth contest between the two clubs, with Hodge (13 points), Brown (seven points) and Carter (seven points) leading Missouri with big shots to keep the Tigers at pace with the Bulldogs. The Tigers’ aggressive defense also kept the score close, forcing Mississippi State into seven turnovers. Overall, first 20 minutes of action featured 12 total lead changes before the Bulldogs headed into the locker room with a 34-31 edge.

The second half was much of the same story, with the Tigers’ defense clamoring the Bulldogs even more in the closing minutes. MU forced Mississippi State to go nearly seven minutes without a field goal — its longest defensive stand of the game. Neither team would lead by more than six points the entire game as two free throws with less than 10 seconds left by Mississippi State tied the match. The Tigers couldn’t seal the victory in regulation but Honor would be the hero in overtime – scoring six of his 10 points on the day in the extra frame.

Missouri shot 40.4 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range – connecting on its final two of the game. The Tigers also held the Bulldogs to 36.7 percent shooting (including just 25.9 percent in the second half) while forcing 14 turnovers and grabbing 11 steals.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will hit the road for another SEC matchup against Georgia on Saturday in Athens, Georgia. The game will tip off at noon CT on SEC Network.