Live Blog of Mizzou Basketball at Mississippi State

With a healthy team that has found a constant eight-man rotation, Missouri's 88-64 victory over Mississippi State is a telling example of the Tigers' season progression. Legitimacy concerns for the Missouri Tigers decline dramatically after back-to-back victories against No. 22 Tennessee and the Bulldogs (13-16, 5-11 SEC).

Questions surrounding the legitimacy of the Tigers have been present all season. Missouri showed glimpses of greatness, opening SEC play by defeating the top-ranked Florida Gators, but after falling to SEC bottom feeders in Ole Miss and LSU, the Tigers were far from a tournament lock.

The Tigers' biggest win in SEC play stemmed from many factors, with the most prominent being the Tigers' SEC season-high 18 forced turnovers. Missouri's nagging defense turned the turnovers into 27 points compared to the Bulldogs 10 points off turnovers.

T.O. Barrett, Jayden Stone and Trent Pierce led the persistent Missouri backcourt, each contributing two steals or more.

Missouri followed a season-low, five forced turnovers, against Arkansas Saturday, with back-to-back season high marks in forced turnovers, with 15 coming against Tennessee and 18 against Mississippi State.

Improving on the Tigers' recent weaknesses was a common theme against the Bulldogs, reviving a poor game on the glass against Tennessee with brilliance on the boards Saturday.

After getting out-rebounded 30-42 against Tennessee, Missouri was dominant on the glass against Mississippi State, winning the rebounding battle 38-26. Senior guard Jayden Stone recorded a team-high 10 rebounds due to strong box outs from centers Shawn Phillips Jr. and Trent Burns, who snatched nine rebounds collectively.

Phillips and Burns combined for 20 points in the first half, leading a Missouri Tigers team that went at the Bulldogs with pure confidence in the paint. Phillips ended the game with 16 points on 83-percent shooting and four rebounds in 21 minutes.

The Missouri Tigers were efficient on all levels offensively: shooting 51 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 81 percent from the charity stripe. The success came from many Missouri Tigers, as five Tigers ended the game in double digits.

Senior forward Mark Mitchell led the Tigers with 17 points in the contest. The other Tigers in double digits were Phillips, Barrett, Pierce and Anthony Robinson II.

Stone stuffed the stat sheet despite not reaching 10 points. The typically high-scoring guard finished with five points, ten rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Missouri (20-9, 10-6 SEC) will visit the Oklahoma Sooners (14-14, 4-11 SEC) at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday in the Tigers' penultimate regular-season game.

Live Updates

Second Half

FINAL SCORE: Missouri 88, Mississippi State 64

3:37 - Missouri 85, Mississippi State 56

Offense is flowing from both teams as the game winds down. The Bulldogs recent offensive surge matches their season-low in points.

8:05 - Missouri 77, Mississippi State 43

Five Tigers are now in double digits as the game continues to spiral. Mississippi State has eight minutes to try to surpass its season-low 56 points.

12:40 - Missouri 68, Mississippi State 32

T.O. Barrett's hard-fought rebound converts to a Trent Pierce three forcing the Bulldogs to call a timeout as they face their biggest deficit in the contest.

16:54 - Missouri 56, Mississippi State 30

Josh Hubbard leads a 7-0 Mississippi State run over the last 1:12 forcing a Dennis Gates timeout. The Tigers need to tighten things up defensively despite a major lead over the Bulldogs.

First Half

First Half Stats

HALF: Missouri 54, Mississippi State 23

The Tigers 31 point lead marks their largest first-half lead in SEC play this season. The two major factors contributing to the lead are rebounding disparity, snatching 10 more than Mississippi State, and forced turnovers, forcing an impactful 12 turnovers. Rebounding and turning over other teams have been sore spots for the Tigers at times in SEC play, so an impactful performance in both categories is crucial for the Tigers as March approaches.

3:27 - Missouri 46, Mississippi State 19

The Missouri lead continues to blossom with Shawn Phillips Jr. at the free-throw line following the media timeout. Missouri is shooting 64 percent from the field due to paint domination and 19 points off turnovers.

5:55 - Missouri 39, Mississippi State 17

Mississippi State struggles continue with Shawn Phillips on the bench as Trent Burns hits back-to-back baby hook shots. The freshman is using his 7-foot-5 frame to add eight points and three rebounds off the bench for Missouri.

7:45 - Missouri 33, Mississippi State 12

The Tigers domination continues backed by a nagging defense that's forced nine Mississippi State turnovers. Those takeaways have resulted in 17 Missouri points as Shawn Phillips leads Missouri with 12 points.

12:05 - Missouri 20, Mississippi State 6

The Tigers have started the game with a balanced attack as five Tigers have scored three points or more. Five forced turnovers translated to eight Missouri points and if the Bulldogs want to get back in the contest they will need to slow down points off turnovers and points in the paint.

Starting Lineups

Missouri	Mississippi State
G T.O. Barrett	G Josh Hubbard
G Jayden Stone	G Jayden Epps
F Trent Pierce	G Shawn Jones Jr.
F Mark Mitchell	F Achor Achor
C Shawn Phillips Jr.	C Quincy Ballard

Availability Reports

G Annor Boateng (Leg, season) - OUT
F Jevon Porter (Leg) - OUT

Boateng's last game of the season came against Mississippi State on Jan. 31 after he lost his footing and landed awkwardly following a dunk attempt.

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs have no reported injuries, as their second-leading scorer, Epps, returned Wednesday following a knee injury that kept him out the second half of the Bulldogs game on Saturday.

How to Watch: Mizzou men's basketball at Mississippi State

Who: Missouri (19-9, 9-6 SEC) at Mississippi State (13-15, 5-10 SEC)

When: Saturday, Feb. 28, 12:00 p.m.

Where: Humphrey Coliseum
in Starkville, Mississippi

TV: SEC Network

Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, Color: Chris Gervino)

SiriusXM: Missouri - 386, Mississippi State- 190

Series: Missouri trails the Bulldogs 9-14, but has bested Mississippi State in three straight games.

Last Time Out, Missouri: The Tigers defeated No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers 73-69, marking Missouri's third win against a top-25 team this season. Sophomore guard T.O. Barrett poured in a career-high 28 points on 12-for-17 shooting.

Last Time Out, Mississippi State: Mississippi State gave up 100 points for the second time this season in an 100-75 loss to No. 17 Alabama. Hubbard recorded 11 points, four assists and two steals while shooting 4-for-13 from field-goal range.

Last Meeting: Jan. 31, 2026 - Missouri defeated Mississippi State 84-79 at Mizzou Arena despite 45 points from Epps and Hubbard.

Missouri Stat Leaders

Points: Mark Mitchell (17.4 on 53.8 FG%)
Rebounds: Mark Mitchell (5.4)
Assists: Mark Mitchell (3.8)

Mississippi Stat Leaders

Points: Josh Hubbard (21.6 on 41.8 FG%)
Rebounds: Achor Achor (6.5)
Assists: Josh Hubbard (3.6)