Anthony Robinson makes a move with the ball during Mizzou’s game against Notre Dame, Tuesday night. (Photo: Ellie Parker)

NCAA Men’s Basketball12Final
Missouri (8-1)403171
Notre Dame (6-3)334376

SOUTH BEND, IN — The University of Missouri men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 season on Tuesday, when it was defeated 76-71 by Notre Dame in an ACC/SEC Challenge matchup at the Purcell Pavilion.

Notre Dame’s Cole Certa hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to give the Fighting Irish a late lead. Missouri’s Jacob Crews, who had made five three’s in the game, missed one that could have tied the game with 13 seconds left.

The Irish added four free throws in the final 10 seconds to hold off the Tigers and improve their record to 6-3. Mizzou is now 8-1 on the season.

“(Notre Dame) kept responding,” Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates said. “The scheduling that they that they did, obviously, with those tough games (at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas last week), allowed them to fight out of even the foul trouble, even the situations and they knocked down some tough shots.”

Mizzou’s Mark Mitchell looks for a shot against Notre Dame’s Kebba Nije during Tuesday’s ACC/SEC Challenge game at Notre Dame. (Photo: Ellie Parker)

The game slipped away from Mizzou in the second half. The Tigers led by 12 points with less than a minute to go before halftime, but Notre Dame scored five points in the final 45 seconds, then began the second half with a 20-6 run to go ahead 53-46 at the 12-minute mark.

Mizzou responded with an 11-0 run, sparked by two Crews’ three-pointers, that put the Tigers ahead 57-53 with 8:28 left in the game.

From that point on, the teams traded baskets and the lead, until Notre Dame took the lead for good on Certa’s three-pointer.

“That last shot is a coach’s rotation shot. I’ll live with it any day of the week,” Gates said. “I didn’t want (Notre Dame 5-star point guard Markus) Burton to have the basketball because he turned the corner and he gave the same type of shot (earlier in the game). So at the end of the day, I mean, (Certa) was beyond the NBA range on the 3-point shot with Shawn Phillips Jr contesting. And I thought we did a good job scouting report-wise, making someone else beat us and beating us from a length away from the basket.”

Mark Mitchell (25) and Jacob Crews (35) were Mizzou’s leading scorers in Tuesday’s ACC/SEC Challenge game against Notre Dame. (Photo: Ellie Parker)

Mizzou’s Mark Mitchell led all scorers with 26 points. Crews came off the bench to add 22 points.

Burton led the Irish with 18 points and 10 assists. Certa scored 14 points, including four three-pointers of his own.

“I think we did a great job executing what the coaches asked,” Crews said. “I know we wanted No. 3 (Burton) not to have the ball in his hand. I mean, he’s a great player, he averages 20. I mean, I think everybody in that gym probably would have figured he was gonna take the shot. So sending a double, it worked last time. You know, you get a stop or debatable plays. But yeah, they made a great shot, credit the dude that shot it. That’s a big time shot over a 7-footer. Shawn Phillips had a great contest.”

Mizzou will be back in action on Sunday, with one of its biggest games of the season, when the Tigers took on archnemesis, Kansas, in the annual Border War Game. The game will be played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City and is scheduled to tip off at 12 p.m.

MIZZOU 71

#NameGSMINFG3PTFTORB-DRBREBPFATOBLKSTLPTS
25Mark Mitchell*37:388 – 171 – 49 – 110 – 552131226
15Shawn Phillips Jr.*23:453 – 50 – 00 – 10 – 22301006
0Anthony Robinson II*36:553 – 80 – 30 – 01 – 67535056
12Sebastian Mack*6:261 – 40 – 20 – 00 – 11001012
14Jevon Porter*11:320 – 20 – 10 – 21 – 23120000
35Jacob Crews31:236 – 115 – 105 – 61 – 124010022
5T.O. Barrett23:142 – 30 – 02 – 20 – 11040016
6Annor Boateng12:511 – 30 – 01 – 20 – 00210013
45Luke Northweather16:140 – 10 – 10 – 11 – 12210000
Totals200:0024 – 546 – 2117 – 259 – 223119121211071

NOTRE DAME 76

2025-26 MISSOURI TIGERS MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

DateTimeAtOpponentLocationTVResults
November 3, 2025 (Monday)6 pmAwayHowardWashington, D.C.W, 88-67 (1-0)
November 7, 2025 (Friday)7 pmHomeSoutheast MissouriMizzou ArenaW, 89-84 (2-0)
November 9, 2025 (Sunday)1 pmHomeVMIMizzou ArenaW, 106-68, (3-0)
November 12, 2025 (Wednesday)7 pmHomeMinnesotaMizzou ArenaW, 83-60 (4-0)
November 17, 2025 (Monday)7 pmHomePrairie View A&MMizzou ArenaW, 91-73 (5-0)
November 20, 2025 (Thursday)7 pmHomeSouth DakotaMizzou ArenaW, 102-68 (6-0)
November 25, 2025 (Tuesday)7 pmHomeSouth Carolina StateMizzou ArenaW, 98-66 (7-0)
November 28, 2025 (Friday)1 pmHomeCleveland StateMizzou ArenaW, 86-59 (8-0)
December 2, 2025 (Tuesday)8 pmAwayNotre DameSouth Bend, Ind.L, 76-71 (8-1)
December 7, 2025 (Sunday)12 pmNeutralKansasKansas City, Mo. / T-Mobile Center
December 11, 2025 (Thursday)7 pmHomeAlabama StateMizzou Arena
December 14, 2025 (Sunday)1 pmHomeBethune-CookmanMizzou Arena
December 22, 2025 (Monday)7 pmNeutralIllinoisSt. Louis, Mo. / Enterprise Center
January 3, 2026 (Saturday)7:30 pmHomeFloridaMizzou Arena
January 7, 2026 (Tuesday)6 pmAwayKentuckyLexington, Ky.
January 10, 2026 (Saturday)5 pmAwayOle MissOxford, Miss.
January 14, 2026 (Tuesday)6 pmHomeAuburnMizzou Arena
January 17, 2026 (Saturday)2:30 pmAwayLSUBaton Rouge, La.
January 20, 2026 (Tuesday)8 pmHomeGeorgiaMizzou Arena
January 24, 2026 (Saturday)1 pmHomeOklahomaMizzou Arena
January 27, 2026 (Tuesday)8 pmAwayAlabamaTuscaloosa, Ala.
January 31, 2026 (Saturday)2:30 pmHomeMississippi StateMizzou Arena
February 7, 2026 (Saturday)12 pmAwaySouth CarolinaColumbia, S.C.
February 10, 2026 (Tuesday)8 pmAwayTexas A&MCollege Station, Texas
February 14, 2026 (Saturday)7:30 pmHomeTexasMizzou Arena
February 17, 2026 (Tuesday)8 pmHomeVanderbiltMizzou Arena
February 21, 2026 (Saturday)3 pmAwayArkansasFayetteville, Ark.
February 24, 2026 (Tuesday)8 pmHomeTennesseeMizzou Arena
February 28, 2026 (Saturday)12 pmAwayMississippi StateStarkville, Miss.
March 3, 2026 (Tuesday)6 pmAwayOklahomaNorman, Okla.
March 7, 2026 (Saturday)11 amHomeArkansasMizzou Arena