Missouri kept playing with fire. Every time the team seemed ready to finally pull away from Jackson State during Sunday’s home game, the visitors would race back to reclaim the lead. Mizzou led for the majority of the evening, but never by more than eight points, allowing JSU to hang around.

It eventually burned the hosts. The black and gold had a six-point edge with 1:17 remaining on the clock. But JSU closed out on an 8-1 run, shocking the 9,690 fans inside Mizzou Arena by coming away with a 73-72 victory — Jackson State’s first of the year.

“Great game, great game plan by Jackson State head coach Mo Williams and his program,” MU head coach Dennis Gates said. “They did a tremendous job executing down the stretch, but more specifically, scrapping. I don't think we won a 50-50 loose ball. I think they were the first on the floor for every loose ball, which is very uncharacteristic of us. But again, I credit Coach Mo Williams and his program. I said before the game, they're the best 0-5 team in the country and they proved that tonight.”

Iowa State transfer guard Caleb Grill hit a pair of free throws to put Mizzou up 71-65. JSU missed a 3-pointer on the next trip, but came up with the offensive rebound and laid it back in on an and-1 to make it a two-possession game again. The visitors missed the ensuing free throw and Mizzou got the ball down to Jordan Butler at the other end. Butler seemed to have a chance to go up for a layup, but chose instead to wait for Jackson State defenders to foul him, sending him to the free throw line in the double bonus instead.

The rookie was on the floor to begin with because of the stout rim protection he’d provided, coming away with two blocks on the evening. But Butler missed both of his free throws, giving JSU the opportunity to trim the deficit.

“It's always points (over free throws). You get the field goal, no matter what, that's our philosophy. Again, that was the first time Jordan, in his young career, was in that situation. I'm sure he will learn from it,” Gates said. “I'll tell you one thing, Jordan Butler, I know he feels bad for missing the two free throws. But more importantly, his teammates was there to make sure his chin was up. Those are the things that I look at.”

JSU scored after collecting Butler’s miss and Gates called his first timeout of the half. The visitors pressed Missouri after the break, as they’d done often throughout the night. A long pass from Grill intended for senior forward Noah Carter was intercepted by Jackson State junior forward Zeke Cook. JSU scored again on the fastbreak to knot it up at 71-71.

Nick Honor was fouled in the backcourt after the inbounds pass, sending him to the stripe with 13.9 seconds remaining. Honor missed his first free throw, Williams called timeout to instruct his team what to do after the next shot and Honor hit his second to put the hosts back in front.

Jackson State senior guard Chase Adams drove down the right side of the lane and hit a contested turnaround jumper to give his team the lead with 5.3 seconds remaining. Mizzou got the ball to graduate senior guard Sean East II, who took it the length of floor down the right side. He was met with a double team when he got to the lane and tried dumping it off to Butler inside. JSU deflected the pass and came up with a steal, sealing its 73-72 victory.

“I thought, you know, when you look at where we were, we just missed out on some opportunities to get some stops but also convert those stops, when we did get them, into baskets,” Gates said.

It’s the worst loss on the head coach’s record since Gates took over the Tigers. It’s likely the worst loss for the program since Dec. 3, 2019, when Missouri fell at home to Charleston Southern, 68-60. It’s a loss that might change the expectations of many about what this group will accomplish this year.

That’s not the case for Gates or his players, though. After the game, Gates didn’t seem angry or overly disappointed. He’s motivated to see his team grow from a loss like this.

“One game will not define us,” Gates said. “I think our guys are going to use this as a lesson to be able to move forward. And we have an opportunity Wednesday to do that. We're gonna watch the film, we're gonna learn from it, we'll practice and do the things that we need to do leading up to it and we'll prepare.”

His players took on the same attitude.

“We're a very close team,” Honor said. “I know we lost and everybody's a little upset but one thing we're gonna do, we're always gonna stay together. That's one positive thing about us. And you know, we enjoy seeing each other succeed, so that goes a long way. And then just in the future, I'm just excited to see us bounce back. I know we'll go back and look at film and try to fix those things that we tripped up on tonight.”

The graduate senior guard had his best shooting night of the season, going 5-8 from the floor and 3-6 from the 3-point line for 15 points. Grill also continued to make an impact on the boards and on defense as well, coming away with seven rebounds, a block and a steal.

“He played well by rebounding the basketball, converting his free throws, he played well defensively to get a steal,” Gates said. “I thought he focused in on allowing the guys to find him in the hockey assists because of the opportunity. He had some back cuts as well. He did a tremendous job, man.”

While the head coach was glad to see Grill respond after a tough first few games to open the year, Gates is still expecting more.

“I'll tell you one thing: He would trade any stat right now for win tonight,” Gates said. “And that's how unselfish he is. So when we look at his stat line, he played well, but it's not important. So I'll look at the other things ... It wasn't enough for us to come out with a win. And we gotta do better.”

Mizzou (3-2) will remain at home for a pair of games this week, hosting South Carolina State (2-2) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Loyola (Md.) (2-4) on Saturday at 11 a.m., both games airing on SEC Network+.

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