Mizzou drops SEC opener to No. 2 Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. (KMIZ)
Mizzou Men's Basketball will have to wait at least one more game to snap its SEC losing skid.
The Tigers lost their first conference contest of the season to No. 2 Auburn 84-68 at Neville Arena. Dating back to last season, MU has now lost its last 19 games of SEC play.
After trading buckets with Auburn for the first three minutes of the game, Mizzou took a 7-6 advantage, its first and only lead of the game, with a three-pointer from Mark Mitchell. Auburn quickly responded with a three-pointer from Johni Broome to regain a two-point lead at the 15:56-mark of the first half.
MU stayed within five points of tying the game for the next three-and-a-half minutes, but a four-point play from Chad Baker-Mazara sparked a 16-4 scoring run that put Auburn in complete control with a 14-point lead with less than nine minutes before the break.
From there, Mizzou trailed by double-digits for the remainder of the game and faced a deficit as large as 26 points in the second half.
The visitors fell victim to a difficult shooting day on the road. MU hit less than 40% of its shots from the floor and finished the contest 7-for-23 from three-point range. However, Auburn shot nearly 60% overall and just under 50% from deep. Defensively, the home team also recorded nine blocks.
Elsewhere, the box score was nearly identical. Mizzou (19-for-26) and Auburn (18-for-24) both finished the game with more than 20 trips to the charity stripe, both programs committed just 16 turnovers and MU actually out-rebounded the home team (31-29) while posting more steals (13-9) defensively. However, head coach Dennis Gates' group was unable to capitalize on its game-high 13 offensive boards and turnovers while Auburn was much more successful.
Marques Warrick was Mizzou's only player to crack double figures, ending the game with a team-best 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting over 17 minutes of play. Marcus Allen, Trent Pierce and Tamar Bates also tallied at least eight points each.
Broome led all scorers in this contest with a 24-point outing, hitting nearly 70% of his attempts from the field. Four other members of Broome's squad also reached double figures.
Up next - Coach Gates' group will welcome LSU to Mizzou Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. for the team's SEC home opener.
