Togetherness Enables Mizzou to Outlast Late Push in Auburn Win

Mizzou Arena fell a little bit silent at the 1:46 mark of Missouri's matchup with Auburn, as a double-digit lead suddenly sat at only four points.

Missouri had two options after its once large lead dwindled. It could bounce back and take care of business or fall apart and not close the game out, which would result in a second-straight ugly loss and some unhappy fans.

The Tigers chose the first of the two options. They came together, removed any distractions and opted to control what they could control. Because of that, Missouri walked away with an 84-74 win over Auburn, improving to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in conference. It all stemmed from togetherness and trust.

"In the past, we've struggled with complaining about the calls of the refs and showing bad body language, but I think today we contained that pretty well and stayed together," junior forward Trent Pierce said following the win.

Missouri led by as much as 13 in the second half, which was at the 4:16 mark. It felt like the game was out of reach for Auburn, even with time still left on the clock.

Steven Pearl and his squad gave Missouri a taste of its own medicine down the stretch of the game by attacking the rim and drawing fouls. They also initiated a press to completely throw the pace of the game out of sync for Missouri. A few made free throws and turnovers later and the game was once again close.

Eventually, Missouri was able to get stops and break the press. T.O. Barrett's press beak and half-court pass to Jayden Stone, which resulted in an and-one to give Missouri a seven-point lead, was the starting point of that.

"I thought Auburn did everything right to muck up the game at that point, once we started playing on our toes and not our heels, putting pressure on our basket no matter how far we were away," Dennis Gates told the media following the win. "We were able to break the press and execute and obviously get to the line. Last game, I thought being able to make free throws, you know, in those times, cost us, because we were obviously missing them, but tonight we were able to close a game, and that's the sort of confidence you need."

Gates and Missouri also got the best of their senior forward, Mark Mitchell. He finished the game with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists on 7-for-13 shooting. Outside of his free-throw woes, Mitchell was imperative to Missouri's success, both as a player and a leader.

"He's our leader, and he knows what buttons to push with his teammates," Gates said. "He knows how to take care of his body. He knows how to get the best out of the coaching staff. He comes with suggestions and not responses all the time."

From Auburn's perspective, it just didn't have the bodies and time to fully complete a comeback. The full-court pressure Auburn applied late in the game worked to a tee, but it felt like it wouldn't have been able to execute the pressure at a high level for any longer than it had.

With more time to press Missouri, Pearl's squad could've forced a few more turnovers and scored off of them to potentially take the lead.

"I wish we had two more guys that we could throw in there with some size that would help us," Pearl said. "Because here's the deal. If we pressed, we would not have any energy to be able to execute offensively. And this team is much better offensively than it is defensively."

Pearl's Tigers very nearly executed an impressive comeback on the road. They just didn't have the time to do so, or the shot-making and intensity earlier in the second half to respond to an impressive Missouri run.

"It's really hard to win on the road this league. Really hard," Pearl said. "We can't make it more difficult than it already is. And I thought tonight we did that. Missouri had a lot to do with that, but there's some things internally that we got to fix."

Missouri’s next matchup is against LSU at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17, on the road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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