After another back-and-forth barnburner, the Tigers will get a rematch with Florida on Friday.
NASHVILLE, TN — In Music City, Mizzou finally found the right note.
After Thursday’s slate of SEC contest began with two thrillers, game No. 3 was no different. Between two teams that had fallen into a funk, Mizzou emerged victorious 85-73 in another frantic SEC clash.
“You saw their experience,” head coach Dennis Gates said of his team’s performance in the second half. “You saw them make big plays. I didn’t have to really use all my timeouts. I allowed them to get through it, and they got through it.”
There were no last-second shots, but the Tigers came up clutch in the closing frames. Mizzou was without Mark Mitchell for the entire second half — per a team spokesman, he was ruled out with a knee injury, one that Gates said didn’t know happened until team doctors told him. With arguably their best source of offense on the sidelines, the Tigers needed others to step up, and that’s exactly what happened.
“We just kept swinging,” Tony Perkins said, “and everything opened up for us.”
After struggling in recent games, Tamar Bates found a scoring rhythm. He eclipsed his point total from the entirety of last year’s SEC Tournament contest against Georgia in the first half, chipping in 12 points over the first 20 minutes of action. That included a pair of three-pointers, marking his first game with multiple triples since Feb. 22. He finished with 25 points, his most since Jan. 25. His layup with 1:22 left increased MU’s lead to seven.
Elsewhere, Perkins stuffed the scoring column, bobbing and weaving his way to 20 points in an increased role as a self-creator. He also collected seven rebounds, including multiple big-time ones down the stretch. Josh Gray was also menace on the glass, registering a season-high 12 boards. Jacob Crews converted a pair of three-pointers; Trent Pierce, despite struggling from beyond the arc in warm-ups, buried another pair of big-time triples, including a four-point play in the first half. Aidan Shaw held his own in 12 minutes of action, his most since Dec. 30.
One of Mizzou’s strengths throughout this season has been its depth, which felt lesser in recent losses. It came back and flexed its muscles on Thursday with two of Mizzou’s key players on the sidelines.
“Our whole mentality is next man up if something like that happens,” Marques Warrick said.
When these two teams met on Feb. 1, Mizzou dominated in what felt like very facet of the game en route to a 27-point victory. On Thursday, the Tigers used a similar formula — even if it didn’t fuel domination like it did in Starkville. Mizzou proved superior inside early on, converting nine of its first 14 shots from two-point range. Tony Perkins led the Tigers in the opening minutes, converting all four two-pointers he attempted. MU also went on a 10-0 run and led by as many as eight in the first half.
The Tigers also dominated the rebound battle. The trail blazer on the boards was Gray, who made an immediate impact off the bench, securing four rebounds in under four minutes of action. The big man ended the first half with nine rebounds, which was already the most he’d registered in over a month. Gray would exit the game early in the second half following a two-handed flush; his left calf appeared to cramp up, and he headed to the bench immediately. He would eventually return to the game, so no long-term health concerns seem to exist.
A key sequence came towards the end of the first half. Following an out-of-bounds call that lit Mizzou’s bench ablaze with anger, Perkins came up with a steal moments later. He dished the rock to a streaking Bates, who threw down a thunderous left-handed slam over Josh Hubbard. On the ensuing possession, Perkins rejected a floater by Hubbard out-of-bounds. Mizzou was emotionally on fire once more — this time, however, they were hot with excitement, feeling vindicated after a call didn’t go their way.
“I just saw us communicating. I saw us flying around. I saw us helping each other,” Bates said of Mizzou’s defensive performance. “Obviously, we were able to score a little bit, but everything started for us on the defensive side of the ball.”
The momentum carried over into the final possession of the half. Perkins appeared to be running out of time, dribbling in circles with only a few seconds remaining. But Grill sprung free on the left wing, and he canned a high-arcing triple after missing his first four attempts from downtown.
The second half wasn’t short on elite two-way play. Luckily for the Tigers, they finally came out on the right side of the chaos. They’ll play No. 2 seed Florida tomorrow at 6 p.m. CT. Mizzou beat UF 83-82 in Gainesville on Jan. 14.