3 Takeaways From Mizzou's Road Loss to No. 20 Arkansas

Three quick thoughts from a frustrating Tiger loss in the SEC.

Feb 21, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) shoots during the first half as Missouri Tigers guard T.O. Barrett (5) defends at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Finding consistency and being able to stack wins has been an issue for Missouri all season. That was once again the case, falling to No. 20 Arkansas on the road on the heels of an impressive win earlier in the week.

The Razorbacks won 94-86, dropping the Tigers 18-9 on the season and 8-6 in the Southeastern Conference.

Foul trouble and defensive struggles were the root issues for the Missouri Tigers in this ranked road test, constantly being unable to come up with big stops after narrowing the score. The Tigers led for a majority of the first half and it looked like the outcome would be vastly different, but Arkansas stormed back late in the first half to take a six-point lead.

The physicality, athleticism and effort from Arkansas were too hard to stop. Missouri certainly didn't play its worst game of the season, but the Razorbacks did everything possible to make the Tigers uncomfortable.

The Tigers will take the court next at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, against a Tennessee Volunteer team that just knocked off the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. 

Here are three takeaways from Missouri’s road loss to No. 20 Arkansas.

Mark Mitchell shines

Feb 21, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Mark Mitchell arms up prior to the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

The Tigers needed an all-SEC performance from someone to stay in touch with the offensive powerhouse that is Arkansas. Mitchell did exactly that for the Tigers in an incredibly efficient and physically empowering outing. He finished with 26 points, four rebounds and eight assists on 8-for-12 shooting. 

Mitchell, like always, had a broad overall impact for the Tigers, both on and off the statsheet. His scoring was impressive as was his playmaking, and he was a steady presence on defense. Mitchell has become a true offensive hub for the Tigers, both as a scorer and distributor, commanding tons of attention on defense. 

For the Tigers, Mitchell felt like the lone constant throughout this game. Missouri went through waves of inconsistency on both sides of the ball, but Mitchell was the one deterrent throughout those. He was always steady on defense, making sure that forward Trevon Brazile had a hard time getting good looks. 

The senior forward not being in foul trouble was also a key for him. Seemingly every other Missouri player was in foul trouble and Mitchell wasn’t, which showed. He was able to maintain that constant level of physicality that’s needed to counter an athletic and lengthy team like Arkansas. 

Fouls, fouls and more fouls

Feb 21, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Malique Ewin (12) shoots as Missouri Tigers guard Jacob Crews (35) defends during the first half at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

The Tigers are starting to become a foul-prone team and that severely hurt them against Arkansas. Winning any SEC game is going to be a challenge when your starting point guard picks up his fourth foul only a few minutes into the second half. When that happened to T.O. Barrett and the Tigers, it was nothing short of alarming. 

Barrett, heading to the bench early in the second half, sidelined him for quite a while. Anthony Robinson II was in the game in his place and he wasn’t able to generate much offense while having lapses on defense. He himself picked up three fouls, which even lessened the amount of aggression the Tigers could play with. 

The fouls clearly took Barrett out of rhythm in this game. Even when he did come back in the game's late stages, he was tentative and not attacking the rim. He was eventually replaced by Robinson again because of that. 

Junior forward Trent Pierce also got into foul trouble to start the second half, picking up his third. He still played at a high level, but it did impact what he could do on defense.

 Shawn Phillips Jr. also picked up four fouls with under 10 minutes to play in the second half, inserting Trent Burns into the lineup. With Burns in and Phillips out, the Tigers lost a lot of physicality, awareness and experience in a clutch game. 

In general, these players picking up a high number of fouls with lots of basketball to play changes the way they play. It forces them to be less aggressive on defense and allows Arkansas to attack those specific players. The Razorbacks were also easily into the bonus with plenty of time to play in the second half, allowing for easy and free points and the free-throw line. 

Billy burns the Tigers

Feb 21, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks wing Billy Richmond III (24) warms up prior to the game against the Missouri Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Sophomore wing Billy Richmond III has been an excellent player for the Razorbacks all season long, but his expertise isn’t always in scoring the ball. Because of that, the Tigers were allowing him to get some looks on offense. That didn’t exactly go in their favour, as Richmond finished with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting. 

Richmond did it from all different spots on the court, the most surprising of which came from the perimeter. He went 2-for-3 from the three-point line, all of which were wide-open attempts. Dennis Gates and the Tigers were clearly content with Richmond taking open jumpers, even if it meant them going in and giving Arkansas an added advantage. 

In hindsight, the 21 that he scored made a clear difference in an eventual Arkansas win. Leaving Richmond open makes sense, especially from the perimeter, given he’s shooting 22.2-percent from that spot this season. That doesn’t mean that it looks bad looking back on it, especially if the open looks that he had were factored out of the final score. 

One area that the Tigers didn’t intentionally let Richmond shine in was his effort and hustle. He finished with two blocks, three steals and four assists by the game's end. His nonstop motor was one of the key reasons for Arkansas' performance.