Missouri men’s basketball played Mississippi State at home last night and came up short against the Bulldogs, losing 56-58. Boogie Coleman came firing right out of the game, draining a big three-pointer early to help Mizzou to a quick 6-0 start. Coleman had the second-most points for the Tigers tonight with 15. He and Javon Pickett led the way offensively. Pickett came out with a strong first half including a big dunk that regained the lead for the Tigers midway through the first half. But after that dunk Mississippi State would take control of the first half, outscoring Missouri 18-9. Iverson Molinar scored scored 6 points in the final 5 minutes of the first half for Mississippi State, including two trips to the line. That gave Mississippi State a 31-23 lead at the half. Missouri shot well at the start of the second half. Javon Pickett, Kobe Brown, and Boogie Coleman combined to score 15 points before Kobe Brown made a layup that gave Missouri the lead with 14:41 to go. Brown finished the game with 12 points, but got into foul trouble along with Pickett and Ronnie DeGray who each counted four fouls. Molinar finished out the game strong for the Bulldogs with 16 points on the night, tied with Pickett for highest scorer. He made a pair of free throws with under four minutes to go to give Mississippi State a two point lead. The Tigers fought back to go up by three on a big three-pointer from Coleman, but tied at 56 with under a minute to go, Missouri allowed Shakeel Moore to drive for a layup and-one to take a 2 point lead with 10.5 seconds to go. On the free throw, Moore missed, Mizzou got the rebound and found Pickett in the corner, but he missed the game-winning three-pointer. “We didn’t want a timeout if he missed a shot. We wanted to make a play,” head coach Cuonzo Martin said.
“I thought Boogie did a great job getting the ball to Javon and I though Javon had an opportunity. He made a play, I thought he probably should’ve drove it, he made the play he felt like making.” The Tigers have to turn around quickly to face a tough Tennessee team on Tuesday. Missouri is now 10-17 going into their final stretch of the regular season.
The Mizzou women defeated Mississippi State in a tight game, but never trailed on their way to a 10-point victory, 76-66 yesterday.