3 Takeaways From Mizzou’s Demolition of Mississippi State

Quick thoughts from an impressive road win by the Tigers.

Jan 31, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Anthony Robinson II (0) shoots a free throw against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half of the game at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Missouri didn’t give Mississippi any hope of winning on Saturday afternoon, taking down the Bulldogs 88-64. Just about everything went Missouri’s way and the Tigers improved to 20-9 overall after it. 

It’s hard to dispute this being one of the most impressive wins of the season for Missouri, even if Mississippi State is toward the bottom of the standings in the Southeastern Conference. The way in which it took control of every aspect of the game isn’t something Missouri’s been able to 

Dennis Gates and the Tigers have a chance to earn another SEC road win at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, against the Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Arena.

Here are three thoughts from Missouri’s blowout win over the Bulldogs. 

The Tigers look the part

Feb 21, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Mark Mitchell (25) shoots a free-throw during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 94-86. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Winning a game in blowout fashion in the SEC really isn’t easy. The Tigers have yet to do that this season, which would easily benefit them in terms of their bubble position for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. 

They got every piece that blowout victory on Saturday afternoon against Mississippi State. From the jump, there was absolutely no life in Humphrey Coliseum. At the halfway mark of the first half, Missouri had buried Mississippi State and led 28-8. It was too little too late by that point for the Bulldogs. 

On the opposite end of that spectrum, the Tigers looked arguably the best they have all season on both sides of the ball. Missouri shot better from the field, three-point line and free-throw line, while also forcing more turnovers, scoring off of those turnovers and grabbing more rebounds. There really wasn’t an area where the Tigers struggled. 

Missouri got the most out of players like Shawn Phillips Jr. and Mark Mitchell, with the duo combining for 33 points. It also finished the game with five double-digit scorers. The balanced scoring and diversity of positions of whom were scoring made it hard for Mississippi State to focus its attention in one area on defense. Handling Phillips and Trent Burns was already hard enough, but T.O. Barrett, Anthony Robinson II and Trent Pierce were also being aggressive.

Not to mention the Tigers holding Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard, who averages 21.6 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting, to 

This might be a hard performance for the Tigers to replicate. The Bulldogs also aren’t going to be the toughest opponent Missouri faces down the final stretch of the season. Channeling this level of intensity, however, can be something the Tigrs return to that could help them win games in March.

Capitalizing on Bulldog mistakes

Sam Simon/MissouriOnSI

The Tigers forced 18 turnovers and scored 27 points off those turnovers. This hasn’t been an area the Tigers thrived in for most of the season, but it was absolutely a reason for an eventual monster win over Mississippi State. 

Missouri only ended up winning by 24 points when the lead was as large as 36. The odds that Mississippi State would commit zero turnovers aren’t exactly realistic, but allowing 27 points off its turnovers didn’t do the Bulldogs any favors. 

The turnover battle is one the Tigers are starting to master, however. After struggling in that department in a road loss to Arkansas, they forced 15 turnovers and scored 23 points off them. Tennessee averages only 12 turnovers per game. 

This also helped Missouri bury Mississippi State as quickly as possible. 12 of those 18 turnovers came in the first half and 21 of the 27 points off turnovers came during that time, as well. If this is a trend the Tigers can continue down the stretch of the season and into the SEC tournament, the Tigers are going to have another wrinkle to toss at opponents. Missouri is becoming a far more versatile team than it once was and the forced turnovers are a part of that. 

Missouri’s unicorn keeps evolving

Mar 19, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Missouri Tigers center Trent Burns (7) attempts to balance basketball as a drill during a practice session at Intrust Bank Arena. | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

Trent Burns is an interesting and intriguing case of development for the Tigers. What Gates has done with him has been beyond impressive, especially with the quick time he’s managed to do it. 

Against Mississippi State, he finished with NUMBER points on NUMBER shooting, while grabbing NUMBER rebounds. His numbers keep improving on a game-by-game basis, as does the fluidity with which he’s operating. 

His awareness and positioning looked brutal to start the season. Some sort of switch has been flipped that’s allowing him to look and play more comfortably, while making statistical and team impacts. The fact that he and Phillips also create a combination of towering size and space-clearing ability is starting to make a difference for Missouri on both sides of the ball, as well. 

Phillips and Burns being able to combine for NUMBER points and NUMBER rebounds in a single game creates a unique situation for the Tigers and a challenging matchup for opponents. There’s not always going to be much that teams can do to stop that size from prevailing without giving up open looks at other spots on the court. 

Burns is still an unknown to many SEC teams and the mismatches he’s bound to create moving forward could be a true difference maker for the Tigers. This development coming along this late in the season makes that case even more interesting.