Missouri Men's Basketball Locks Down Last-Place Finish in SEC
The Missouri basketball team was the first in the Southeastern Conference to secure its spot in the upcoming league tournament in Nashville, although in this case that's not a good thing.
With Saturday night's 84-78 home loss to Ole Miss at Mizzou Arena, the Tigers are guaranteed to finish in the bottom of the regular-season standings. They'll play the No. 11-seeded team, likely to be Arkansas or Georgia, a week from Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
Graduate Sean East II made 10 of 12 shots, including 3-for-4 for 3-point range, to score 27 points for his fifth-straight 20-point game. Sophomore Aidan Shaw and junior Tamar Bates added 13 points and graduate Nick Honor added 12.
But like with so many other games during this frustrating season, the opponent was just a little bit better. Fueled by a 22-3 run in the first half, Ole Miss held a 45-26 advantage at the break, only to see the Tigers come roaring back.
At one point, Mizzou trimmed a 21-point deficit down to just two, but never fully caught the visiting team.
Matthew Murrell led the Rebels with 21 points, and his five 3-pointers tied him with Joe Harvell for fifth-most in program history at 214.
Jaemyn Brakefield had 10 of 14 free throws to finish with 19 points, and Jaylen Murray made four 3-pointers en route to 16 points.
Missouri (8-21, 0-16 SEC) shot 54.0 percent from the field, while Ole Miss (20-9, 7-9) made 50 percent of its shots.
The Tigers will play their final hame game of the season Tuesday night against Auburn (8 p.m.), and then close out the regular season at LSU next Saturday.
Note: Graduate center Connor Vanover missed the game due to a concussion.
