Coming off two consecutive losses, Mizzou men’s basketball knew they had an opportunity for a get-right game at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks at home in Mizzou Arena. However, as has been a theme throughout the year, the Tigers couldn’t capitalize on enough opportunities and let a game in which they were favored slip away. They eventually lost, 71-69 in overtime. The Tigers dropped to 8-8 on the year while the Gamecocks advanced to 13-3 on the year.
The Gamecocks certainly came in hungry as well, coming off a game against Alabama in which they got demolished by 27. Both of these teams showed they had a lot to play for throughout the game, one in which no team led by more than South Carolina’s 7-0 spurt out of the gate. The Gamecocks started freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles for the first time all year after recovering from mono and starting his career off the bench.
Senior forward Myles Stute provided instant offense for the Gamecocks early, hitting a stepback three. The Tigers were able to answer that early run to take a 12-11 lead behind the energy of Jesus Carralero Martin, who scored or assisted on the first eight points of the day for Mizzou. It ended up being one of the most productive days of the year for Carralero Martin, who finished with six points, four assists and four steals.
“Jesus played a great game, once [he] fouled out, I thought we took a step backwards,” Dennis Gates said in the postgame presser.
After taking the lead, the teams traded occasional buckets but were generally making more hay on the defensive side of the court. Both squads combined to shoot 3-22 from distance in the first half, but Mizzou shot slightly better from the floor overall. Mizzou eventually was able to build its lead up to six after the only three of the half from Sean East and some free throws, but the Gamecocks got right back into it. At the half, Mizzou led 33-32, but neither coach could realistically be too excited about how it unfolded.
The second half was more of the same in terms of competitiveness. And the game eventually ended up being tied nine different times. Mizzou was able to grab a small lead at 38-35 after a Noah Carter three, and would actually maintain that lead all the way to the final seconds of the game. However, every time the Tigers would make a great play, such as Connor Vanover and Anthony Robinson drilling triples, or Carralero Martin saving a ball ticketed for out of bounds into the waiting arms of East for a layup, they would instantly give it right back.
After the Vanover three, Bates fouled Stute on a trey, leading to two points, and after the East layup, the Tigers immediately allowed forward B.J. Mack to score an easy deuce on the other end. It was yet another tedious game of two steps forward, two steps back for these inconsistent Tigers.
The biggest moment came after Sean East got fouled and hit two free throws to give Mizzou a 62-59 lead with about 40 seconds to play.
The Gamecocks inbounded the ball and raced quickly up the right side of the court, and the ball eventually swung around into the waiting arms of forward Ta’Lon Cooper. He was ready in his shooting posture, and as the ball sailed over the outstretched wingspan of Carallero Martin, all Tigers players could do was watch.
And anyone watching this edition of the Missouri Tigers Men’s Basketball team could’ve predicted what would likely come next.
String music, and the game was tied.
After the game, Gates said he was trying to get a timeout called before the most important possession of the game.
“We were up three, I signaled timeout, but I guess I signaled too late for the refs to call it,” Gates lamented in the presser. “Just get [our] defense set…don’t give up three points.”
The last offensive possession after the triple was a convoluted mess, leading to Sean East taking a contested, fallaway jumper on the right baseline, which for a moment looked like it was on target before clanking off the front of the rim. The magic East was able to wave his wand and conjure up against Minnesota earlier in the year did not translate today, albeit on a much more difficult shot.
The second half was defined by a couple players on both sides. For Mizzou, Noah Carter was the man. He poured in 17 of his game-high 23 points in the frame to help hold a Tiger lead the majority of the way through.
For South Carolina, the two guys who made the biggest impacts were forwards B.J. Mack and Cooper. Mack was physically dominant against the Mizzou bigs all night, and finished with 21 points and four boards. Every time South Carolina needed a big bucket, Mack seemingly would catch the ball way too deep in the post and finish easily around either Vanover or Aidan Shaw. Cooper led the Gamecocks in boards as well as hitting the biggest shot of the night.
In overtime, some of the costliest mistakes Mizzou made all night rose to the surface. Sean East AND Noah Carter both missed the front end of 1-and-1s at the line immediately, which allowed the Gamecocks to start OT with a 5-0 run. The Tigers should be credited for battling back behind Carter, who scored each and every one of Mizzou’s seven points in the extra frame. After hitting a huge corner three to tie the game at 69, Gates didn’t call timeout, and Jacobi Wright rose up and drilled the eventual game-winning midrange jumper from the elbow.
Mizzou had one final chance to win it or send the game into double OT, but they once again reverted to hero ball in the final 10 seconds. This time, it was Carter, which is slightly more acceptable due to his performance in the period. He caught the ball with seven seconds left, and forced his way to the top of the key to pull up for the game-winning triple.
“It felt good,” Carter said.
It was not, and South Carolina ripped Mizzou’s heart out to hand the Tigers their sixth straight loss against Power Six foes.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Mizzou, heading to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama, while South Carolina heads back home to take on Georgia.
Editors Note: Alabama played Missouri on Jan. 16. The Tigers lost, 93-75, making them 0-4 in conference play. The Tigers will next take on the Florida Gators in Columbia on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.