Tigers beat Rebels in regular season finale, 82-77

Missouri needed one more bucket to put the game away.

The Tigers led 76-74 with 31.7 seconds remaining in the second half of their home game against Ole Miss on Saturday. Head coach Dennis Gates had to burn a timeout after senior forward Kobe Brown picked up his dribble in the lane and couldn’t find a teammate to get the ball to.

Mizzou came back on the floor after the break, with senior point guard Sean East II inbounding the ball on the baseline. He passed it to Noah Carter, who caught it underneath the rim and took one dribble toward the right block. Carter picked up the ball, gave a shoulder shimmy to the right, then spun back around to toss a hook shot over his left shoulder while absorbing contact. The ball fell through the hoop and Rebels junior forward Jaemyn Braker was whistled for a foul.

Carter hit the and-1 free throw to put his team up by five and the team hung on to take an 82-77 victory.

“We knew this game, coming in, was going to be a tough game simply because Ole Miss had been playing with some unbelievable energy, enthusiasm and invigoration. They want to give their very best,” Gates said. “Our guys, you know, they gave their very best, man, and that's all I can continue to ask for.”

Carter’s started to rediscover his touch around the rim. The Northern Iowa transfer was 2-4 in the paint en route to scoring 13 points in Missouri’s win over LSU on Wednesday. For the season, Carter is shooting 65.7% on his 2-pointers, which ranks 58th in the nation.

The Dubuque, Iowa native said he grew up a bigger kid and has always had to work on his game in the post. When he got to college, though, his coaches wanted him to add to his perimeter game to make him an inside-out threat. It’s helped him, especially being a bit undersized for his position at 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds. He’s a career 31.7% shooter from the 3-point line and has averaged 1.2 assists per game. But Carter occasionally forgets to stick to his roots.

“Sometimes you get distracted by wanting to show what you have gotten better at,” Gates said. “It's something that he wasn't able to do early on in his young basketball career. But you have to remain consistent and never forget those basic things, those grassroot things that you have learned. And it's a gift and he's been gifted to be able to shoot the ball and then have the footwork he has, but also back-to-the-basket patience. Everyone doesn't have that.”

Carter looked more like himself against Ole Miss right when the Tigers needed him to. He crammed in two dunks and nailed a 3-pointer during the first half to send the Tigers into the break with a 41-36 lead. The visitors rallied back, however, and took a four-point lead with 6:41 remaining.

Mizzou got back on track by feeding Carter and Brown on the block. Carter finished the afternoon putting up eight points in the paint — not including his hook shot, which was just outside the lane — and posting 17 points and five rebounds for the game.

“I'm happy I'm actually getting the touches and getting the makes in now,” Carter said. “Because I should have been doing it all year.”

The win clinched the No. 4 seed in the SEC tournament for the Tigers and gave them their 11th victory of conference play. It’s the program’s first time winning 11 games in the league since its first year in the SEC in 2012-13.

Gates wasn’t aware of any other scores happening around the conference or where his team would end up in the seedings until after they defeated the Rebels. But he was happy his team took care of business and put them in a good position heading into the postseason.

“I'm looking forward to whatever our future holds,” Gates said. “To be able to finish up the SEC season in my first go around as the Whitten Family Head Men's Basketball Coach, it's been fun and I'm excited about the next stage.”

Following the victory, Mizzou held its Senior Day ceremony, recognizing nine of their fourth- and fifth-year players. Gates said in a press conference on Friday that he has all of his seniors go through with the ceremony to take pressure off of the ones who still have an extra year of eligibility left and have to decide whether to stay or go after the season.

Four of the players’ collegiate careers will end after this year: DeAndre Gholston, Tre Gomillion, D’Moi Hodge and Ben Sternberg. The other players who took part in Senior Day were Brown, Carter, East, Nick Honor and Isiaih Mosley.

Carter said he’d always been one of the underclassmen supporting the seniors on his team and that it was cool to be a part of the other side of it, being honored with his mom, dad, brother and sister at his side.

Fans chanted “one more year” as Brown walked out of the tunnel with his family and took center court, encouraging the team captain to return next season. Brown said he hasn’t put any thought into his decision yet, but that the love he’s gotten with the Tigers has been “surreal.”

“It was definitely a fun moment being able to play in front of a crowd like that for four years,” Brown said. “To bring Mizzou basketball back, it's a fun experience. I'm happy to be able to graduate from the University of Missouri.”

On a day that was meant to pay respect to the seniors on the team, Missouri’s lone freshman on scholarship played a pivotal role in helping the hosts win.

Aidan Shaw entered the game with just under 14 minutes left in the second half, the hosts trailing by five. Hodge missed a 3-pointer on the next possession, but the forward secured the offensive rebound and laid it back in. East picked off a pass at the other end and Hodge scored in transition to slash the lead down to one.

It was one of four offensive rebounds on the day for Shaw, the most he’s had in any game of his rookie year. He finished the game with six points and five boards, four of his points coming from putbacks.

Gates thought Shaw had struggled to crash the glass in traffic at times this season. He was glad to see Shaw make strides against Ole Miss.

“Sometimes we lose sight of what this day is about. It's about the entire team. There's only one team of the '22-23 season,” Gates said. “Aidan Shaw will only be a freshman one time, and he's done a great job. But (the seniors) have done a great job of playing the big brother role, not giving him anything easy every day in practice and forcing him to grow but also holding him accountable. And that's what it takes.”

With the No. 4 seed clinched, the Tigers (23-8, 11-7 SEC) receive a double-bye in the league tournament, taking place in Nashville, Tenn., and will advance directly to the conference quarterfinals. Mizzou will play on Friday at 2:30 p.m., taking on No. 5 seed Tennessee (22-9, 11-7) or the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between No. 12 seed South Carolina (11-20, 4-14) and No. 13 seed Ole Miss (11-20, 3-15).

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