Mizzou’s Shawn Phillips wins the opening tip off of Thursday’s SEC Tournament game against Kentucky in Nashville. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| #9 Kentucky (21-12) | 38 | 40 | 78 |
| #8 Mizzou (20-12) | 29 | 43 | 72 |
NASHVILLE, TN — The University of Missouri men’s basketball team trailed by 16 points early in the second half, but battled back to take a one-point lead with less than three minutes left.
Unfortunately though, the Tigers weren’t able to hold that lead and lost, 78-72, to Kentucky in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Thursday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
The loss drops Mizzou to 20-12 on the season and will leave the Tigers no choice but to sit and wait until Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show to find out if they made it into the Big Dance.
A win would have clinched a spot in the tournament for Missouri and most believe the Tigers will still get in, but losing on Thursday means the team will have to sweat it out until Sunday night.
“It won’t be fun, sitting and waiting,” Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates said. “I believe we’re a tournament team. I think we’ve shown over the course of the season that we deserve to be in the national championship tournament. But like everybody else, we just have to wait and see.”
Mizzou guard Anthony Robinson II (0) and Kentucky guard Jasper Johnson fight for the loose ball during the first half of an SEC Tournament game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
The Tigers began the game with a surprisingly slow start. Mizzou struggled to score in the early going and had major problems with turnovers, including 10 in the first half.
“We had probably one of the worst first halves that we’ve had all year,” senior center Shawn Phillips said. “(It was) just guys not being ready, like physically, mentally. It just took some guys a little more to get them truly, like, all the way locked into the game. And that hurt a little.”
Kentucky led 38-29 at halftime, then went up 53-37 with 14 minutes left, following a three-pointer by Otega Oweh and three made free throws by Collin Chandler. But that’s when Missouri began its comeback.
Phillips made a pair of back-to-back slam dunks and a free throw to get the Tigers rolling. Then T.O. Barrett added a sprawling layup to get the deficit back under 10 points at 53-44.
Mizzou’s T.O. Barrett makes a reverse layup during the second half of the Tigers’ SEC Tournament game against Kentucky, Thursday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes, until Mizzou went on a 10-2 run with under three minutes left and took its first lead of the second half when Mark Mitchell, who finished with a career-high 32 points, made a jumper with 2:34 left that put the Tigers ahead 70-69.
Unfortunately, that was the last basket Mizzou would make in the game. Kentucky took the lead back on its next possession, then increased its lead when Oweh hit two jumpers in the final minute to put the Wildcats up 75-70.
Missouri turned the ball over twice in the final minute and saw Phillips get called for technical foul, which ended any chance for a final comeback.
Kentucky made its free throws to clinch the game and sent Mizzou back to Columbia to sit and wait for the tournament announcements on Sunday.
“I think we’ve gotta keep our head up and trust the committee to do what they do and move us on,” Mitchell said. “Because I think our year speaks for itself and the type of team we are and the caliber of team we are. We are really tough. … That second half right there speaks for itself.”
#9 KENTUCKY 78
| No. | PLAYER | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | OREB | DREB | PF |
| 4 | Andrija Jelavic | 18 | 6 | 3-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 24 | Malachi Moreno | 32 | 7 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 3-4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Collin Chandler | 33 | 15 | 5-6 | 2-3 | 3-3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 0 | Otega Oweh | 35 | 21 | 9-18 | 2-6 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Denzel Aberdeen | 34 | 16 | 4-12 | 1-4 | 7-8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Mouhamed Dioubate | 20 | 9 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| 10 | Brandon Garrison | 9 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Jasper Johnson | 6 | 1 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Kam Williams | 13 | 3 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| *** | TEAM | 78 | 27-55 | 6-21 | 18-23 | 27 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 22 |
#8 MIZZOU 72
| No. | PLAYER | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | OREB | DREB | PF |
| 15 | Shawn Phillips Jr. | 19 | 8 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | T.O. Barrett | 33 | 13 | 4-11 | 0-1 | 5-7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 11 | Trent Pierce | 32 | 7 | 2-5 | 1-4 | 2-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 25 | Mark Mitchell | 39 | 32 | 13-21 | 2-2 | 4-7 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 17 | Jayden Stone | 20 | 5 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | Trent Burns | 16 | 2 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Nicholas Randall | 4 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 0 | Anthony Robinson | 29 | 0 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 35 | Jacob Crews | 8 | 5 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| *** | TEAM | 72 | 26-55 | 5-13 | 15-23 | 35 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 24 | 20 |
2025-26 MISSOURI TIGERS MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2025 (Monday) | 6 pm | Away | Howard | Washington, D.C. |  | W, 88-67 (1-0) |
| November 7, 2025 (Friday) | 7 pm | Home | Southeast Missouri | Mizzou Arena |  | W, 89-84 (2-0) |
| November 9, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 pm | Home | VMI | Mizzou Arena |  | W, 106-68, (3-0) |
| November 12, 2025 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | Minnesota | Mizzou Arena | | W, 83-60 (4-0) |
| November 17, 2025 (Monday) | 7 pm | Home | Prairie View A&M | Mizzou Arena | | W, 91-73 (5-0) |
| November 20, 2025 (Thursday) | 7 pm | Home | South Dakota | Mizzou Arena | | W, 102-68 (6-0) |
| November 25, 2025 (Tuesday) | 7 pm | Home | South Carolina State | Mizzou Arena | | W, 98-66 (7-0) |
| November 28, 2025 (Friday) | 1 pm | Home | Cleveland State | Mizzou Arena | | W, 86-59 (8-0) |
| December 2, 2025 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Away | Notre Dame | South Bend, Ind. |  | L, 76-71 (8-1) |
| December 7, 2025 (Sunday) | 12 pm | Neutral | #21 Kansas | Kansas City, Mo. / T-Mobile Center |  | L, 80-60 (8-2) |
| December 11, 2025 (Thursday) | 7 pm | Home | Alabama State | Mizzou Arena | | W, 85-77 (9-2) |
| December 14, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 pm | Home | Bethune-Cookman | Mizzou Arena | | W, 82-60 (10-2) |
| December 22, 2025 (Monday) | 7 pm | Neutral | #18 Illinois | St. Louis, Mo. / Enterprise Center |  | L, 91-48 (10-3) |
| January 3, 2026 (Saturday) | 7:30 pm | Home | #22 Florida | Mizzou Arena | | W, 76-74 (11-3) |
| January 7, 2026 (Tuesday) | 6 pm | Away | Kentucky | Lexington, Ky. | | W, 73-69 (12-3) |
| January 10, 2026 (Saturday) | 5 pm | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. | | L, 76-69 (12-4) |
| January 14, 2026 (Tuesday) | 6 pm | Home | Auburn | Mizzou Arena | | W, 84-74 (13-4) |
| January 17, 2026 (Saturday) | 2:30 pm | Away | LSU | Baton Rouge, La. | | L, 78-70 (13-5) |
| January 20, 2026 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Home | #21 Georgia | Mizzou Arena | | L, 74-72 (13-6) |
| January 24, 2026 (Saturday) | 1 pm | Home | Oklahoma | Mizzou Arena | | W, 88-87 OT (14-6) |
| January 27, 2026 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Away | #23 Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | | L, 90-64 (14-7) |
| January 31, 2026 (Saturday) | 2:30 pm | Home | Mississippi State | Mizzou Arena | | W, 84-79 (15-7) |
| February 7, 2026 (Saturday) | 12 pm | Away | South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. | | W, 78-59 (16-7) |
| February 10, 2026 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Away | Texas A&M | College Station, Texas | | W, 86-85 (17-7) |
| February 14, 2026 (Saturday) | 7:30 pm | Home | Texas | Mizzou Arena | | L, 86-68 (17-8) |
| February 17, 2026 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Home | #19 Vanderbilt | Mizzou Arena | | W, 81-80 (18-8) |
| February 21, 2026 (Saturday) | 3 pm | Away | Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. |  | L, 94-86 (18-9) |
| February 24, 2026 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Home | #18 Tennessee | Mizzou Arena | | W, 73-69 (19-9) |
| February 28, 2026 (Saturday) | 12 pm | Away | Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss. | | W, 88-64 (20-9) |
| March 3, 2026 (Tuesday) | 6 pm | Away | Oklahoma | Norman, Okla. | | L, 80-64 (20-10) |
| March 7, 2026 (Saturday) | 11 am | Home | Arkansas | Mizzou Arena | | L, 88-84 (20-11) |
| March 12, 2026 (Thursday) | 11:30 am | Neutral | #8 Kentucky | Nashville, TN | | L, 78-72 (20-12) |