Missouri Falls to South Carolina 71-69 in Back-and-Forth Overtime Affair
The Missouri men's basketball team fell to South Carolina 71-69 in overtime on Saturday to remain winless in SEC play. This was nowhere near an easy win for the Gamecocks, as the underdog Tigers made this a back-and-forth affair.
Both teams entered Saturday in the top-5 in the SEC's three-pointers made per game category, but that certainly wasn't apparent in the first half.
The Tigers didn't convert a shot from behind the arc until their 11th attempt (by Sean East II) with four minutes remaining in the opening period. South Carolina ended the first half shooting 2-for-10 from downtown, which like Missouri, is far less than their average percentage.
Missouri should've stuck with driving in the paint and shooting inside the key as they made 11-of-14 attempts at that point. The Gamecocks' most efficient way of scoring was also inside the arc and through several second-chance buckets.
These methods of offense kept the first half in a gridlock battle, as the closing 33-32 score was a result of six ties and five lead changes.
Despite the rough deep shooting in the first half, Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates didn't exactly switch up the game plan to open the second period. However, forward Noah Carter and 7-foot-5 center Connor Vanover helped the Tigers' percentage by drilling their first two three-point attempts of the half.
In addition to holding South Carolina's offense in the first 20 minutes, the Tigers also led the steals battle 5-to-1. Missouri's defense remained stout early in the second half by tallying two more steals and not allowing the Gamecocks to make a field goal from 18:48 to 13:54.
Unfortunately, Missouri couldn't take much of an advantage as a six-point lead after a three-pointer by Anthony Robinson II was their largest at that point. Nevertheless, Tigers forward Jesus Carralero Martin's sixth point in the short run set a new season-high. He also was the defensive anchor during the run as he recorded a team-high three steals at that point.
Both teams played the rest of the way like it started—by trading buckets. Forward Tamar Bates, East and Carter were the main scorers throughout the game (only Tigers to finish with double-digit points) and that didn't change in the final five minutes.
East hit two free throws with 43 seconds remaining to put the Tigers up by three, but 18 seconds later, Gamecocks guard Ta'Lon Cooper nailed a three-point jumper to even the score once again at 62. But it would remain that way to end regulation after East missed a contested jumper at the buzzer.
The overtime period became the Noah Carter Show as he scored every single point for the Tigers, including a game-tying three with 36 seconds left, which became his season-high 23rd point. But South Carolina guard Jacobi Wright's jumper with 13 seconds remaining ended up being the game-winner after Carter missed a deep contested three at the buzzer—making the final score 71-69.
“We had a play, I got the ball up top," Carter said during the postgame press conference. "I forced the shot. I would say that it felt good, it did feel good. But yeah, they got the stop and we didn’t get it done.”
Missouri falls to 8-8 while South Carolina climbs to 14-2.
