Initial Reactions to Mizzou's Letdown of a Loss to Texas

Missouri On SI basketball reporters give their thoughts on the Tigers' loss.

Feb 14, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates reacts to a play against the Texas Longhorns during the second half of the game at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Coming off the high of a road win at Texas A&M, the Tigers fell down quickly, suffering a 17-point loss to Texas on Saturday night. The loss to the Longhorns adds more bluriness to the Tigers' path to the NCAA Tournament.

Missouri On SI basketball reporters Joey Van Zummeren and Michael Stamps gave their thoughts on the loss and what it means for the Tigers from Mizzou Arena following the game. You can watch their full reaction using the YouTube link below.

Missouri entered the second half trailing just by two points at 33-31. Through the first half, Texas' defense was agressive, but the Tigers still managed to score inside. Early in the half, guard Jayden Stone created the most impressive play of the game by faking out a defender at the 3-point line before driving all the way to a poster dunk.

The game was physical through all 40 minutes. That became a challenge for Missouri when it led to center Shawn Phillips Jr. reaching four personal fouls with 11:28 still remaining. Without him, Missouri was unable to match physicality on both ends of the court. Before Phillips reached his fourth foul, Missouri trailed 53-47.

"Shawn is a defensive presence for us," Gates said. "He gives us, definitely athleticism around the basket. It's just one of those things where some of the fouls that he picked up on the floor, unfortunate flagrant. ... Shawn gives us great rim presence. The one thing that we missed was in terms of being able to give him some post touches, and the disruption of the game didn't allow him to get a rhythm, because he didn't know how to be physical in those situations, because it was more so guessing. So after watching film, I'll show him some things just in terms of where the referees were allowing physicality and where they're not allowing it, and he'll be able to bounce back."

The loss ended what was a three game win streak for the Tigers. In the final six games of the regular season, tree of them will be against teams currently inside the AP Top 25.

"You have to mentally, emotionally, get through it and physically, you have to restore yourself," Gates said. "So tomorrow, we got to focus up on our mental, emotional and our physical rehab and make sure we get to all our meetings and everything else, and our guys have done a great job of that this season. I'm proud of our team, I'm proud of what we've done."

Missouri will remain at home, looking to bounce back by hosting No. 19 Vanderbilt at 8 p.m. Wednesday.