Mizzou drops second-straight SEC clash in dramatic finish against No. 21 Georgia
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team couldn't find a way to close out a tight game against No. 21 Georgia, on Tuesday, losing their second-straight game 74-72.
With the loss, the Tigers drop to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference action.
It was a game that felt like Mizzou had to fight adversity at every turn, as the Tigers had quite a bit of ups and downs through the first 20 minutes of action against the Bulldogs. After getting a 5-0 hole out of the gates, MU managed to claw back in and make it a one-point game at the 14-minute mark. However, adversity struck again when Georgia went on a 13-0 run to get up by 10 midway through the first half.
As they have all season long, head coach Dennis Gates' team found a way to respond. Courtesy of a Mark Mitchell takeover in the first half, as he tallied 11 points in those first 20 minutes, Mizzou went into the locker room down by just three points.
After the break, the back-and-forth, nail-biter nature of the ball game continued.
In fact, with just 34 seconds left in the ball game, the Tigers found themselves down by just one possession. That's when forward Jacob Crews played hero, by drilling a straight-away, catch-and-shoot triple to take the lead. But, as was the story of the night, the Bulldogs had an answer as Jordan Ross drained an and one with less than 10 seconds to play to take the lead back and win the game.
Mitchell led his team in the scoring department with 18 points on the night, complimented by five rebounds, three assists and two steals. The only other Tigers to join Mitchell in the double-digit points club was guard Jayden Stone, who tallied 13 points and Crews, who ended with 11 points.
Despite the loss, it was a special outing for Stone, who he scored his 1,000th career point in the second half.
It wasn't the prettiest offensive performance for Coach Gates team, as the group ended up shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 28.0 percent from 3-point range. However, on the flip side, the Tigers did limit the NCAA's top scoring offense, which averages 96.0 points per game, to just 74 points at Mizzou Arena.
Up next - Mizzou will stay home to host Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 24. Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
