SEC Tournament run ends for Mizzou after loss to Auburn

Mizzou’s only chance to make the NCAA tournament was to win the SEC tournament. The Tigers fell short of that goal after a 81-71 loss to Auburn on Thursday afternoon.

In likely his final game as a Tiger, Jordan Geist finished with 25 points after setting a career-high with 30 the night before. Torrence Watson also had a career-high 20 points off the bench.

Javon Pickett struggled after shooting 0-5 the night before. Pickett finished with zero points on 0-7 shooting. Xavier Pinson also struggled with a team-high eight turnovers.As a team, Mizzou shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. The Tigers were 15-30 from beyond the arc.

Geist had zero intention of ending his Mizzou career quietly. He opened the game with all eight of Mizzou’s points to put the Tigers up 8-5 with 15:47 left in the first half.

Auburn began its push around the 10-minute mark. Mizzou allowed a 16-3 run to give Auburn a 30-21 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half. The Tigers went 5:17 without scoring a single point during the stretch.

The Tigers closed the gap in the final minutes of the half but trailed, 32-30, at the break.

Auburn came out firing in the second half from deep and hit three three-pointers in back-to-back-to-back posessions. Cuonzo Martin called timeout with Mizzou trailing by its largest margin to that point, 49-39 with 14:42 to go.

Geist answered with back-to-back threes of his own as Mizzou went on an 8-0 run. The run narrowed the gap to 49-47 with less than 13 minutes to go.

The Tigers would later tie the game at 52 off another three from Torrence Watson with 11 minutes to go.

However, Auburn pulled away off a pair of three-point shots with eight minutes to go and never looked back.

The Tigers finished the season with a record of 15-17. Mizzou will likely miss out on postseason play.