- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 367,523
- Reaction score
- 43
To join the MizzouToday community click here for our sign up page and get either a month-to-month subscription or save some cash with a year-long sign up.
You must be registered for see images attach
Steve Roberts - USA TODAY Sports
The Missouri Tigers looked much closer to the Tigers fans saw a month ago instead of the ones they had seen the past few weeks.
They played fast, they defended well, they got to the rim and played aggressive.
There were some differences, especially from beyond the arc, but it was enough to beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs 85-73 in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday in Nashville.
With the win, the No. 7-seed Tigers move on to face the No. 2-seeded Florida Gators at 6 p.m. Friday.
“They’re a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said of Florida. “I don’t know the strength of that No. 1 seed, but they’re one of the top two or three teams in the country in my eyes.”
The Tigers lost Mark Mitchell to a knee injury, he played only 12 minutes, were without Josh Gray for an extended period as he got fluids to help a cramp and Anthony Robinson struggled with foul trouble early.
Gates did not have an update on Mitchell's status moving forward after the game, but said there were discussions during the game about him coming back in.
Which all meant the Tigers had to rely on their main two senior guards, Tamar Bates and Tony Perkins.
And the pair produced.
Bates ended with 25 points and four rebounds, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3 and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, while Perkins had 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.
“Those two guys have obviously have done a great job,” Gates said. “And they filled in some areas.”
The first two SEC quarterfinal matchups of the day ended on a buzzer beater and in double-overtime, respectively. And it seemed like the Tigers and Bulldogs were set to follow the trend of a game coming down to the wire.
The teams were tied at 69 with 4:13 left to play after RJ Melendez sent down a second-chance dunk, but Robinson found Caleb Grill cutting through the paint for a dunk to put the Tigers in front for good with 4:05 left to play.
Aidan Shaw, playing his most minutes since before the SEC schedule began because of the injuries to Mitchell and Gray, blocked a Josh Hubbard layup, then grabbed an offensive rebound on the next Tiger possession, leading to a free throw that put Missouri up three.
Then Perkins took control of the next possession, fighting his way through the lane to scoop in a layup to put the Tigers up 74-69.
“Getting stops, doing what we needed to do, getting out and getting fast-break points,” Perkins said. “That kind of led to where we were able to keep scoring and keep getting stops.”
The Tiger run continued with a Robinson free throw, then Missouri answered two Bulldog free throws when Robinson found a cutting Bates along the baseline on an inbound play for a layup to create a 77-71 lead with 1:22 left to play.
It was all free throws the rest of the way as Bates, Marques Warrick and Perkins combined to go 8-for-8 from the line in the final minute.
Missouri shot 23-of-28 (82.1 percent) from the free-throw line while connecting on 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) from the field and 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from deep.
The Tigers shot at least 10 percent better than the Bulldogs in every facet, but 14 Tiger turnovers led to 15 Mississippi State points as the Bulldogs took 11 more shots from the field, six more 3-pointers and one fewer free throw than Missouri.
Missouri won the rebounding battle 43-35, but gave up 14 offensive rebounds leading to a 17-12 advantage in second-chance points for the Bulldogs.
Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription.
Talk about this story in the story thread and discuss so much more in The TigerWalk.
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines.
Continue reading...
