The Tigers saw their chances of an appearance in the Top 10 of next week’s polls fizzle away in Fayetteville.
The No. 15 Missouri Tigers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) aimed to solidify a place in next week’s AP Top 10 with a win over their conference rival, the Arkansas Razorbacks (16-11, 5-9 SEC). at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday evening. The Razorbacks seized the moment and utilized a second half offensive clinic to win 92-85 and pick up a huge win for their season.
In their previous matchup this season, Missouri dominated early, exploiting Arkansas’ defense willingness to close out in the paint and kicking it out to open men for triples. The aforementioned dominance brought a full Mizzou crowd into the game, and Arkansas did exactly that by forcing early turnovers and hitting big buckets.
Mark Mitchell was a source of early Tiger woes, giving up three turnovers before the first TV timeout, and the Razorbacks hacked away any time he brought a ball low in the paint. Mitchell wasn’t the only culprit, however, as his teammates gave up half of their season average of 10.5 turnovers a game in the first five minutes. Mitchell fought back though and was a key offensive contributor for the Tigers down the stretch, finishing with 17 points and shooting 50% while getting to the free throw line nine times.
“[The early turnovers] are things that you can’t do on the road and expect to win,” head coach Dennis Gates said post-game. “I’m always going to credit the defense, and their defense did a good job and we just didn’t secure the ball.”
Mizzou tends to dominate in bench points, and tonight was no different, as the Tigers outscored the Razorbacks 41-12 off the bench. They picked up 33 points in the first half on strong performances from Marques Warrick, Jacob Crews and Caleb Grill, but just eight in the second as offensive lightning rod Caleb Grill went ice cold.
“They carried us in the first half,” Gates said. “That’s why I went back to them to start the second and being able to get meaningful points off the bench is a staple for us.”
The bad starts didn’t end with the beginning of the game though as the Razorbacks capitalized on early Mizzou mistakes to begin both halves. The Tigers uncharacteristically turned the ball over seven times in the first five minutes of each half. It is a rarity for the Tigers to not have the advantage in points off turnovers, but Arkansas excelled in this area on Saturday, scoring 30 points off of Mizzou’s 18 giveaways. Conversely, the Tigers forced 16 turnovers but only picked up 14 points themselves.
“They were very disruptive in passing lanes and guarding the ball,” Marques Warrick said. “We had a lot of self-inflicted stuff but their students showed up today and were incredible.”
Arkansas’ run of showing up the Tigers in categories they typically dominate in didn’t end with the turnover points battle, however, as they also did a significantly better job at getting to the free throw line. Overall, Arkansas went to the line 20 more times than Mizzou and sunk 15 more free throws. Off ball fouls were aplenty for the Tigers in this game after picking up five straight shooting fouls to begin the game.
“I don’t control the whistle,” Gates said. “I do know Mark Mitchell is very good at drawing fouls and there were a couple that Mark wasn’t able to draw.”
Labeled as a disappointing transfer acquisition given his expectations after taking Florida Atlantic to the Final Four, Johnell Davis was anything but disappointing for the home crowd Saturday. Davis drove play from the top and got himself to the line and mixed that in with some big shots to corral 18 points on five-of-11 shooting.
Zvonimir Ivisic was a key asset to Arkansas’ offense in their last meeting with the Tigers and he was no different tonight, picking up key buckets inside the paint all night. Ivisic tallied 20 points, leading the Razorbacks to a 44-28 advantage in the paint.
At the halfway mark of the second half, a 16-4 Arkansas run that featured five straight makes was the first piece of adversity to hit the Tigers. The run was paramount in bringing the Bud Walton crowd back into the game after the home team was outscored 48-41 in the first half.
The glass was somewhat of a weakness for the Tigers early on in the season, but it has become a strength in recent contests. Missouri picked up 17 boards on the offensive glass compared to just nine for Arkansas in the game, but the conversion wasn’t there for Mizzou as they only led 17-9 in second chance points despite the wide opportunity gap.
“The percentage is low to our 17 [second chance opportunities],” Gates said. I was hoping that we could get up to 20+ because that would have taken some other pressures away.”
Finding themselves down 10-4 and 17-12 early in the game, Grill continued his prowess in road conference play picking up 11 points before the second TV timeout with multiple shots from deep to help claw the Tigers out of early deficits. Grill’s early success didn’t carry over though, as he missed 10 straight three-pointers after hitting his first two, with the lump of them being open looks he has helped himself to all season.
“I thought [Grill] did a good job taking the [threes] that were open,” Gates said. “In the second half I thought the ball just didn’t fall for him and they were open.”
The Tigers did not find overall shooting efficiency early in the game but the recipe for success was clear— shoot from deep. 15 of their first 23 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc, with six makes off those attempts. Overall, Mizzou shot 36 threes — their highest mark of the season — which accounted for more than half of their total attempts from the field.
Missouri shot 36.4% from the field and 33.3% from downtown while Arkansas shot 56% and 33.3%, respectively. Rebounding-wise, Missouri held a comfortable lead of 35-28, but the more surprising factor is Mizzou shooting 15 more shots than the Razorbacks yet failing to secure the victory.
The loss drops the Tigers to 20-7 on the season and 9-5 in conference play, and drops them back to sixth place in the SEC. They will now move on and host South Carolina at home on Tuesday, February 25 at 8 PM CST on ESPNU.