The Auburn Tigers traveled to the midwest on Wednesday, hitting the road to take on the Missouri Tigers. Missouri entered the matchup undefeated at home, and the Tigers from The Plains became the next to fall victim in Columbia, 84-74.
Auburn started the game strong defensively, and was able to keep the game close as a result. Steven Pearl’s squad quickly built a 12-5 lead, buoyed by a 7-0 run. However, the run was ended by Missouri after a fast break dunk which shifted the momentum back toward the home team. A short time later, Missouri was back in it, trailing just 14-13.
The two squads traded blows, with Missouri eventually taking its first lead, 20-18. The momentum shift forced Pearl to call a timeout in hopes of taking momentum back. The timeout seemed to work, as each team went back to trading scores.
However, as the first half wound down, the game quickly became a shootout. Each team began to work quickly, each scoring on either side of the 10-point mark across the final few minutes of the half.
Coming out of halftime, Missouri hit the ground running with an explosive start. Despite the body blow, Auburn punched back, making the score, 48-45. However, Missouri found an extra gear and separated from Auburn 56-48 as Steven Pearl’s squad had zero made field goals for over four minutes of game time.
After a major scoring drought from Auburn, the road Tigers were finally able to get a score with nine minutes remaining in the game to cut the Missouri lead to seven. However, the home team did not let up, making it extremely difficult for Auburn to find any consistent shot making or stability down the stretch.
Down 13 with just five minutes to play, Auburn tried to mount a last gasp run to make a comeback. However, the attempt was suffocated, and Missouri held Pearl’s squad at arm’s length to secure a 10-point home victory and remain unbeaten in Columbia.
The loss drops Auburn to 10-7 overall and just 1-3 in SEC play. Next up for the Tigers will be a home showdown against South Carolina in Neville Arena Sat, Jan. 17. The Gamecocks have spent much of the season near the bottom of SEC play, which should give Auburn a good chance to bounce back and try to right the ship in the conference standings.
