COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri and Ole Miss clashed in a Southeastern Conference battle at Mizzou Arena on Saturday afternoon and the two teams produced a back-and-forth contest throughout. Ultimately, the Tigers came out on top in an 83-75 win to bounce back from losing against Texas on the road.
Both teams were ranked in the top 25 of the NCAA, the Rebels (15-5, 4-3 SEC) at 16 and Missouri (16-4, 5-2 SEC) at 22. Most recently, Ole Miss had lost two straight SEC contests and, including this matchup against the Tigers, had faced off against four straight ranked teams.
“When you see a team with four straight ranked opponents on their schedule, including being able to defeat a good Alabama team at Alabama,” Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said. “Losing two straight after that, those things are tough before coming in here, so we wanted to give our very best.”
Two players made the difference for Missouri in this game, Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill. The pair combined for 51 points and both shot over 50 percent from the field. On and off the court, the pair showed their impact for Gates’s squad.
“They carried us, they made big play after big play and were definitely doing the same in the huddle with their leadership,” Gates said. “ I’m proud of these two.”
Bates,, opened the scoring for Mizzou for the seventh consecutive game. After the Rebels took an early 8-0 lead, he Tigers responded by going on a 12-0 run, their largest scoring run of the contest.
Missouri stifled a decent amount of the three-point opportunities the Rebels had in the first half, as Ole Miss shot 33% from the three-point arch.
Coming out of the half, the game followed a script that was consistent throughout the whole of the second half, fouling and free throws.
Both teams were in the double bonus by the end of the game and for the Rebels, Malik Dia, Mikeal Brown-Jones and Jaem Brakefield all had three fouls for Ole Miss by the 9:35 mark of the second half.
It was the three-point shooting and free throws shot that helped Missouri stay undefeated at home this season. Missouri shot 39 free throws total, the Rebels shot 18.
The Tigers shot 11-of-25 from three, and Ole Miss shot 6-of-20. In a game where replays and constant fouls delayed the pace of the second half, the offensive gelling as well as the valuable 31 bench points to the Rebels 9 pushed this game over the line for Gates’s squad.
“We didn’t win that day, because Missouri was the better team. They outrebounded us. They got to the free throw line significantly more than us, which is an indication that they were the more aggressive team,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “Two special performances by two of the best players in the league.”
The Tigers next face No. 14 ranked Mississippi State next Saturday (16-4, 4-3) at 12:00 p.m. Saturday in Starkville. The Bulldogs have won two of their last three SEC games and are 8-1 on home court in SEC play. Ole Miss will look to rebound on home court against the Texas Longhorns 8:00 p.m Wednesday.