Mizzou ends regular season with loss to Kentucky, continuing skid
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
An eight-point loss to No. 19 Kentucky on senior day isn't how No. 15 Tiger hoops would've liked things to end at Mizzou Arena this season. However, a big first half effort from the Wildcats was enough grab the 91-83 win in the regular-season finale, on Saturday.
With the loss, Mizzou finished the regular-season 21-10 overall and 10-8 in Southeastern Conference play. As a result, MU will head into the SEC Tournament in Nashville as either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed, depending on the results of the rest of Saturday's action.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with head coach Dennis Gates in the video player below.
In the Tigers' final ride at home this season, junior forward Mark Mitchell, once again, led the scoring effort. The Kansas City native went 8-for-14 from the field and recorded a game-high 22 points, which was complimented by seven rebounds and three assists.
However, the seniors carried the rest of the load in the scoring department. MU's seven graduating seniors combined to score 59 points in the loss to Kentucky. Guards Marques Warrick (17) and Jacob Crews (12) were the only other Tigers to get into double-digit scoring.
You can watch extended highlights of MU's senior day celebration, plus an emotional speech from Coach Gates in the video player below.
Over the course of the past four games, points in the paint has been the problem for Coach Gates' team. Coming into Saturday's game, Mizzou had allowed 182 points in the paint in those last four outings, but did manage to limit Kentucky to just 26.
But, a couple of new problems emerged. For one, the Wildcats scored 20 points off of MU's 10 turnovers. In addition to that, UK also out-shot Mizzou in the first 20 minutes of action, as the Tigers went 35 percent from the field to the Cats' 44 percent. In the end, the two teams actually ended up relatively even in the scoring department, as Gates' crew out-scored Kentucky 54-53 in the second half, but it was too little, too late.
Otega Oweh dominated for the Wildcats, on Saturday. He ended up with 22 points and was joined by three of his teammates in the double-digit scoring department.
Up next - the season is not done, yet, for No. 15 Mizzou. The Tigers will travel to Nashville as the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament. MU will face the winner of Mississippi State and LSU's first round matchup in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m.
