Mizzou Falls Short in Overtime to No. 20 Arkansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile spoiled the Senior Day of his former team by making a 3 in overtime to give the Razorbacks a two-point lead over Missouri with 38 seconds remaining.

Missouri raced down the court with 15 seconds remaining for one final opportunity, but that was ended with the Tigers’ pass inside being intercepted. Arkansas made all four of its final free throw attempts to earn a 88-84 win over Missouri to end the regular season.

Despite the loss, the performance still stands out as one of the better ones on the season for Missouri. The Tigers will regret a sloppy stretch of minutes in the first half that put them behind by as much as 15 in the half. There were also several missed opportunities by the Tigers in the final two minutes of the game.

Missouri held a one-point lead with 52 seconds remaining, but a free-throw make from Arkansas and a layup miss from Missouri at the buzzer brought the game to overtime.

Missouri started overtime with Trent Pierce landing a 3 to give the Tigers a one-point lead, but that was Missouri’s only score over the first two-and-a-half minutes of the overtime period. Meanwhile, Arkansas’ Malique Ewin made a 3 with 2:32 remaining to put Arkansas ahead by two possessions.

But, with two makes from Mitchell at the free-throw line, followed by a layup from Shawn Phillips Jr., the Tigers tied the game again at 81.

But, with 38 seconds remaining, Brazile made the 3-point shot that effectively sealed the game for the Razorbacks.

At the end of regulation, with the game tied at 71 with 1:22 remaining, Meleek Thomas made a jumper to give the Razorbacks a two-point lead, but forward Mark Mitchell responded by fighting through to make an and-one layup, sinking the free throw attempt.

Thomas then stepped up to the free-throw line to Arkansas with 32 seconds remaining, missing his first before making his second.

Missouri held the ball for the final shot, calling a timeout with 7.2 seconds left. Guard T.O. Barrett took the inbound pass, driving to the basket before his layup danced around the rim, bringing the game into overtime.

Missouri took its first lead of the game with 16:42 remaining in the second half after Mitchell fed a dunk to Shawn Phillps Jr. to put the Tigers up 45-44. Mitchell created several opportunities in the paint for the Tigers, having the second most assists on the team with four.

The fact that Missouri reached that point would’ve been surprising to learn early in the first half, where Missouri looked overwhelmed offensively and unmatched defensively. Arkansas held a lead as wide as 15 points in the half.

Unlike the first meeting between these two teams, Missouri wasn’t able to find many scoring opportunities in the paint. Missouri also was giving up too many opportunities via turnovers — the Tigers accumulated 11 in the first half.

But the Tigers managed to outscore the Razorbacks 21-9 in the middle eight minutes of the game, starting to find rhythm by only giving up two turnovers during that stretch.

In spite of the sloppy stretch early, Missouri managed to play about 30 minutes of some of its best basketball of the season. Having wins over five of the top eight teams in the conference is arguably the best entry on Missouri’s resume.

Missouri will begin its postseason in Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC Tournament. Depending on what happens in the rest of the SEC’s Saturday action, the Tigers will either begin play on Wednesday or Thursday.