Mizzou Men Unable to Recover from First Half Struggles, Fall to Arkansas
COLUMBIA, Mo. — To borrow from the discography of Arkansas native Johnny Cash, the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball season has turned into a ring of fire. And against Arkansas Wednesday, the flames went higher as the Razorbacks burned the Tigers 91-84. Missouri now sits at 8-13 on the season, remaining winless through eight games of conference play.
Arkansas only needed the first 20 minutes to shut down Missouri, handing the Tigers their second largest first-half deficit of the season of 19 points with a 47-28 lead.
The Razorbacks quickly marked their territory inside the paint, scoring 56 points inside, with the Tigers’ defense presenting very little traffic to work around. Missouri’s offense poured gasoline on their own game plan by giving up 18 turnovers.
The second half for Arkansas was all about holding on to their lead by continuing to contain the Missouri offense. It did not take long for Arkansas to lock the Tigers in their cage and throw away the keys. Just five minutes into the half, the Arkansas lead was up to 21.
Junior guard Tamar Bates put together a respectable one-man effort to put Missouri back into the game, scoring 29 points total. But the rest of the Missouri offense was unable to overcome the deficit. Bates and Sean East II were the only two Missouri players to score double-digits. The Tigers' offense especially struggled in the first, shooting 32.1 percent in the half.
Wednesday marked the end of a cold, long January where the Tigers were unable to find a single win. Missouri has only won two of their last 13 games. The treacherous search for a win in conference play will continue for Missouri this Saturday when they travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt (5-14).
Live Updates:
Second Half:
FINAL: Missouri 84, Arkansas 91
4:14 - Tramon Mark three quickly takes the energy out of the crowd
4:34 - Mizzou Arena is up on its feet after a Tamar Bates lays one in, Missouri trailing by 11
5:01 - Sean East makes two at the line, Missouri trailing 75-62
6:08 - Arkansas lead is now up to 16
7:40 - Missouri trailing 58-71 at media timeout. Would take a heckuva comeback.
11:00 - Tramon Monk steals a Missouri pass, quickly goes to dunk it
11:30 - Tamar Bates makes a three, is up to 21 points on the night. Missouri still trailing by 17
13:28 - Bates fouled on his way to an impressive layup, makes the extra shot. Missouri trails 63-48
16:19 - Tamar Bates fouled, makes both from the charity stripe. Missouri trails 38-57
16:33 - Khalif Battle injured on the court, receiving attention from Arkansas medical staff
17:00 - Curt Lewis scores his first points of the night
17:24 - Missouri's defense still has little answers inside
First Half:
End of half: Missouri 28, Arkansas 47
2:12 - Fast break dunk gives Arkansas their largest lead of the night; 41-26
3:31 - Missouri started out defending the paint really well but that has quickly changed. 24 points allowed in the paint so far
3:53: Missouri trailing 35-24 at the media timeout
5:14 - Sean East makes a three to bring Missouri back within 10
6:25 - Chander Lawson responds with a dunk for Arkansas. 31-19 Arkansas lead at media timeout
6:38 - Vannover showing off his 7-foot-5 height with an easy one-handed dunk
8:21 - Noah Carter makes his second from outside the arc, giving Missouri a little bit of life
8:44 - Keyon Meinfield Jr. makes Arkansas' third three-point make of the night, Arkansas leads 25-12
9:28 - Tamar Bates jumper brings Missouri deficit to 12-20
10:35 - Tramon Monk jukes out Tamar Bates at center court, allowing for an easy fast break dunk
11:44 - Missouri shooting 5-for-14 at media timeout, trailing 10-16
12:35 - Missouri's interior defense and passing offensively have been impressive so far
14:04 - Vannover now scores a three, Missouri trailing 10-12
14:40 - Connor Vannover finally scores after two offensive rebounds for Missouri
16:00 - media timeout brings out the Mizzou football team to center court to celebrate 'Battle Line' win over Arkansas in November
16:00 - Nick Honor with an incredible block
17:11 - Noah Carter responds with a three of his own to tie it at 5
18:20 - Khalif Battle sinks a three for Arkansas
19:11 -Jordan Butler fouled on his way up to dunk, makes both free throw shots
Pregame:
- Missouri will be without freshman forward Trent Pierce (illness) and senior forward Jesus Carralero Martin (foot)
- New Missouri football defensive coordinator Corey Batoon is in attendance for tonight's game
Starting Five's
Arkansas
Khalif Battle
Layden Blocker
Tramon Mark
Chandler Lawson
Jalen Graham
Missouri
Tamar Bates
Nick Honor
Sean East
Jordan Butler
Noah Carter
