Mizzou hoops fall to Texas, ending three-game win streak
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
After stringing together three consecutive wins in the heart of the conference schedule, the Tigers fell in their return to Mizzou Arena against Texas, 84-68.
Head coach Dennis Gates and his squad will wait and see how Saturday's loss to the Longhorns will impact their NCAA Tournament hopes, as both teams reside on the bubble. After the game, sitting at 7-5 in Southeastern Conference play, Coach Gates said there's still a lot of season left.
"It’s not always good as you think it is and it’s not always as bad as you think it is. So, we want to kind of stay in the middle and bounce back because it's a long season. We're moving into the last third of our conference schedule, the last six games and here we are being able to reset. The first six went a certain way, the middle six went a certain way and here we are approaching the last six, the last third of our conference leading into our conference tournament. So, it's a lot of positioning happening, but this is this is a tough conference, with a lot of depth, a lot of great coaches," he said. "Again, this is a loss. One of our two losses this season at home, fourth in two years, so I mean, that's a big win for Texas. But again, somebody chart the teams that won on the road and where they won at this year in our SEC and you will not see that amongst any other conference out there, based off of the teams and what we've been able to do. So, the SEC is a very we may not have a top five team, but we have a group of teams that's really, really good and we're all just out there giving our very best. So, we'll bounce back."
Neither side earned an edge in the first half, with Mizzou having the largest lead at five points. Despite M.U. jumping to a 12-7 lead, the Longhorns responded just as quickly. Both sides were within one possession of each other for all but three and a half minutes in the first half. Texas launched a late surge, to go into the half ahead 33-31.
The Tigers managed to keep it close out of the break, tying the game at 41 with just under 15 minutes to play. After the game got knotted up, the Longhorns went on two separate scoring runs of six points, to jump out to a double digit lead. Despite Mizzou being able to hold its ground from there, it couldn't gain any more, falling to Texas 84-68.
Three players got to double digits in scoring for the Tigers. Jayden Stone and Mark Mitchell were tied for a team best at 16, and Anthony Robinson followed them up with 11.
Up Next - Mizzou will be back at home on Wednesday, Feb. 18, to take on No. 19 Vanderbilt. Tip off for that game is scheduled for 8 p.m.
