The Games Encapsulating the Good, Bad, Ugly of Mizzou Basketball's 2024-2025 Season

The version of the Missouri Tigers that walked into the NCAA Tournament was hardly recognizable from the one that showed up in cruical upset victories in December and January.

How this team will be remembered in years to come is yet to be seen, considering the wide spectrum of highs and lows it captured. But both are important to the story of this group; the lows were only so devastating because of how promising the highs were.

Here's our staff's picks for the games that represented the best sides of the 2024-2025 Missouri Tigers, and the games that represented the ugly sides.

The Good

Chase Gemes: 76-67 win over No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 8

Up until Dec. 8, there wasn’t a real way to quantify just how good the Tigers were. They dominated all of the sacrificial lamb non-conference opponents on the calendar but took a loss to a future tournament team in the Memphis Tigers to open the season.

Once Missouri pulled off a 76-67 upset over the then-No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, all of a sudden, the outlook on the rest of the year shifted in a whole new direction. Getting the best of its top rival for the first time since 2012 was undoubtedly a huge victory for the program.

Dec 8, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; The Missouri Tigers bench celebrate a foul call against Kansas in the second half of the game at Mizzou Arena. | Amber Winkler / MissouriOnSI

Even without the services of Caleb Grill, it didn’t matter. Tamar Bates gave his most memorable performance as a Tiger, dropping 29 points and five steals on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. It might not have been the best day from behind the arc, but a 26-of-31 clip from the free-throw line and 23 points off turnovers helped widen the gap.

This win was a showcase of the potential Missouri had. Everything came together at the right time, and the Mizzou Arena crowd was unlike many of the last few years. There were more impressive performances to come, but this was the inaugural one.

Even though Kansas drastically fell off from the previous year — losing its No. 1 status for good — the win was mighty impressive at the time. It might not stack up to Florida or Alabama now, but it hasn’t lost credibility as one of the defining games of the season.

Michael Stamps: 110-98 win over No. 4 Alabama on Feb. 19

It’s difficult to think of a better offensive performance across the country this season than what the Missouri Tigers did to the Alabama Crimson Tide on February 19. The Tigers won 110-98 in impressive fashion, shooting 60% from the field and posting two individual performances above 20 points.

At the helm of that performance was forward Mark Mitchell, who finished with 31 points on 11-for-15 shooting. He completely dominated in the paint despite the size advantage the Crimson Tide held and also attempted 12 free throws. Without his efforts the game would have been much closer, but what would end up as Mitchell’s best game of the season led the Tigers to arguably their best win of the season.

Feb. 19, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard/forward Jacob Crews (35) celebrates with forward Trent Pierce (11) after Pierce made a 3-point shot in the first half of a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Mizzou Arena. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Grill also deserves his praise for the win. He finished the game with 25 points and most importantly, he did it on three made triples. He attempted 11 free throws and made 10 of them, which is where he found most of his points. It wasn’t a vintage Grill performance, but he still impacted winning basketball.

Not many teams can say they outshot Alabama like Missouri did, but the defensive side of the ball also made a difference. The Tigers forced 14 turnovers and completely outpaced the visiting team. Alabama was known for being one of the fastest teams in basketball and Missouri matched that speed, which was made clear early on.

The fashion in which Missouri beat Nate Oats’ squad, by scoring 110 points, was truly one of the most impressive performances of the season. Even if the Tigers did not replicate a performance even somewhat similar to the one against Alabama, they have that to hang their hat on.

Joey Van Zummeren: 88-61 win at Mississippi State on Feb. 1

This 27-point victory was perhaps the most dominant out of any performance for Missouri on the season. Over a Mississippi State team that would go on to earn an eight seed in the NCAA Tournament, Missouri put on a shooting and defensive clinic.

Grill shot. 6-11 on 3-point shots, tying his high for makes in SEC play. Prior to this point, Mississippi State had only allowed more than 85 points twice in SEC play. Missouri also won the overall rebound battle 39 to 31.

Feb 1, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Caleb Grill (31) drives to the basket against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

This was just Missouri's second road win of the season, two weeks after its first at Florida on Jan. 14. It was a statement that the Tigers were capable of not only winning commandingly on the road, but also of its overall potential.

The Bad

Gemes: 92-85 loss at Arkansas on Feb. 22

Missouri’s demise in the latter half of conference play started with this trip to Fayetteville.

Riding the highs of the upset win over No. 4-ranked Alabama by that point, the expectation was that the Tigers could be in serious contention for a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament. However, as fate would have it, the Arkansas Razorbacks handed them a 92-85 loss instead.

The ugly play that became commonplace for Missouri — notably in the NCAA Tournament — was seen fully on display. It turned the ball over a whopping 18 times, which allowed for an easy 30 points for Arkansas. Along with that, the Razorbacks dominated in the paint through a total of 44 points.

Feb 22, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Mark Mitchell (25) drives against Arkansas Razorbacks forward Zvonimir Ivisic (44) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Grill’s decline from the peak of his 3-point shooting prowess was equally as noticeable, as he finished with 13 points on just 2-of-12 shooting from behind the arc. The senior would go on to give the Tigers better performances in the last stretch of the season, but the sign of a slump became prevalent.

Arkansas making it to the Sweet Sixteen might make the loss seem better now, but at the time, Missouri seemed to be a team that could accomplish just that. Taking this loss didn’t derail everything by any means, it was just the point at which a lesser version of the Tigers formed.

Stamps: 61-53 loss at Texas on Jan. 21

Plenty of flaws showed up down the stretch of the season in losses to Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, but some of those major issues came up way before that. On Jan. 21, everything that ended up being wrong with the Tigers, including an ugly offensive showing and major holes in their defense.

For starters, the Tigers only shot 4-for-22 from the perimeter. That included a 1-for-5 night for Grill, 0-for-3 from Bates and 2-for-5 from Trent Pierce. Bates was also the only person for the Tigers to score in double digits and there was a clear lack of offensive production.

Texas Longhorns guard Tramon Mark (12) and Texas Longhorns forward Arthur Kaluma (6) block a shot from Missouri Tigers guard Trent Pierce (11) as the Longhorns take on Mizzou at the Moody Center on Jan. 21, 2025. | Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite both teams recording 10 turnovers, Texas clearly had a defensive advantage. The Longhorns also outrebounded the Tigers, taking another statistical category. Without looking at the stats, it also was apparent that Texas’s effort was higher. They needed to win the game based on previous losses and it showed on the court.

Those shooting woes and defensive issues grew increasingly more glaring as the season went on. It was a red flag before things got bad for Missouri, even though it came before an impressive hot stretch. This game was alarming for multiple reasons, but nobody thought it would be what would eventually define Missouri’s season.

Van Zummeren: 67-57 loss to Drake in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament

When I asked multiple Drake players in the locker room after this game if they were surprised by anyhting Missouri did in the game, the answer was no. When I asked them what they did to combat the disadvantages the Tigers presented in height or pace, Drake's answer was something along the lines of what they had executed all season to combat those challenges.

This was perhaps the most frustrating game for Missouri all season. Not only for the stakes, but the maddening continuation of problems that plagued the team in the last stretch of the season.

Missouri shot 33.3% to Drake 54.3% from the field. Grill's cold streak from 3 continued, shooting 1 for 7. The Tiger defense had few answers for guard Bennett Stirtz, who went for 21 points. Missouri, as it had through most of the last half the season, failed to close the game after having pulling within five points with three minutes left.

Mar 20, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Drake Bulldogs forward Daniel Abreu (54) dribbles against Missouri Tigers guard Mark Mitchell (25) in the second half of a first round men’s NCAA Tournament game at Intrust Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

In some ways, this was a shameful end to a season that featured such highlights for Missouri. In other ways, it made sense for the team's odd falloff in February and March. Time will only tell how much the ending will cloud over the accomplishments of the team.

The Good

The Bad

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