The primary issue has been clear for weeks to those keeping an eye on the Tigers. And apparently it’s been clear to opponents scouting them as well.
The Tigers allowed 48 points in the paint, including 14 of Oklahoma’s first 16 - with the other two coming on free throws the Sooners earned in the paint - on the way to a 96-84 loss as Missouri dropped its third of its past four games.
“Credit Oklahoma, senior day, definitely in a position where they had to win,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “We were in a position where we had to win as well. We got out to a flat start and that’s where the game, I believe, was established by Oklahoma early.”
Oklahoma had its scouting report on point early, attacking the paint with repeated drives and starting the game 7-of-7 on layups to take a 16-10 lead.
But the Tigers were able to respond with a Marques Warrick 3, a Warrick layup and a Caleb Grill 3 to take an 18-16 lead with 12:14 left.
Oklahoma tied the game with a tippin layup from Jalon Moore, then Jacob Crews gave the Tigers a 20-18 advantage.
The Sooners tied the game at 20 and took the lead on a Kobe Elvis 3. The Tigers would not lead again.
Oklahoma got back in the paint with a Sam Godwin layup, then Jeremiah Fears - who scored a career-high 31 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 12-of-12 from the free-throw line - added a jumper to put Oklahoma up 27-20.
Oklahoma extended to a double-digit lead on a Duke Miles jumper, then built a 45-30 advantage on a Dayton Forsythe 3.
Not much went right for the Tigers on either side of the ball as two Josh Gray free throws sent Missouri into halftime trailing 50-37.
“It wasn’t no problem defensively,” Gates said. “They’re a great team at home, they shoot a high percentage at home based off the stats.”
Fears turned a steal into a dunk to start the second half and Oklahoma was off to the races again, creating an 18-point lead when Fears hit two free throws with 12:28 left, then again after a Luke Northweather 3 with 11:22 remaining.
Finally, the Tigers seemed to have a bit of a spark as Mark Mitchell hit a layup, then Warrick poked away a steal that Tony Perkins turned into an assist to Mitchell for a dunk to cut the lead to 14.
But Oklahoma answered with an easy layup from Fears, who added a free throw to create a 69-52 advantage.
The Tigers put something together again as two Trent Pierce free throws, a Grill 3 and a Pierce steal turned into Tamar Bates left-wing 3 off a Gray assist brought Missouri within 69-60. It was the first time the Tigers were within single digits since 37-28.
But once again, the Sooners responded with easy layups.
Missouri got back within eight after a Grill 3 made it 77-69 with 4:53 left, but the Sooners responded again and Missouri never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Mitchell ended with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go with four rebounds, while Grill had 16 points with four made 3-pointers along with a team-high eight rebounds.
Warrick added 10 points and five assists.
Missouri shot 28-of-60 (46.7 percent) overall, 9-of-31 (29 percent) from 3 and 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
Both teams grabbed 29 rebounds, but Oklahoma led 13-9 in second-chance points even though Missouri grabbed four more offensive rebounds (12-8).
Oklahoma led the battle for points in the paint 48-34, while Missouri’s bench outscored Oklahoma’s 47-28.
“Just bouncing back and responding, doing what we have consistently done this year,” Gates said of getting back on track.
No. 15 Missouri will return to Mizzou Arena to conclude the regular season by hosting No. 19 Kentucky at 11 a.m. Saturday.
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