'We Just Ran Out of Gas'; Dennis Gates On Missouri's Rough Second Half Against Mississippi State
COLUMBIA, Mo. — At halftime of Missouri men's basketball's game against Mississippi State, it seemed like the Tigers had a path to their first conference victory.
Missouri, 0-10 in SEC play heading into Saturday night's game, only trailed Mississippi State by four. Two-straight three-point makes from graduate guard Nick Honor in the final 90 seconds of the half brought the score to 30-to-26.
“The first half I truly believe our guys went out and competed to the best of their ability,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said.
Despite the Bulldogs' defense bringing a physical test that led to 10 turnovers for Missouri, the Tigers were able to match their opponents energy and gave themselves the opportunity to win the game in the second half.
“Mississippi State is one of the most physical teams in the country, the most physical teams in the conference,” Gates said. “I thought our guys stood that in the first half.”
But things quickly turned in the second half. A 20-to-4 scoring run for Mississippi State in the first eight minutes of the second half put an end to the Tigers' hopes. The difference in energy from both teams was noticeable. Missouri was playing from behind for all but the first 66 seconds of the game. Playing catch up was only sustainable for so long.
“We fought our hearts out. We fought in the second half, we tried to fight but we just ran out of gas. That’s what I would say. I wish we could put those two halves together.”
The story has been the same for the Tigers through 11 games of conference play. Rarely have they shown that they can fight back when they get punched in the mouth. For them to find a win in SEC play this season, it's likely going to take a fast start from their offense, which has been inconsistent. Their efforts have been hampered by multiple key injuries this season, most recently to leading scorer Sean East. The graduate guard has missed the last two games with a knee injury.
As Gates has said many times throughout this losing streak though, his team does not have time to hang their heads. The Tigers will continue their season next Saturday when they travel to Oxford to take on Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m.
