The Missouri Tigers dropped their fifth straight decision with a 74-71 road loss at UNLV. A first half lead was blown for the third straight game, as the Tigers entered the locker room with a 37-32 advantage. They hit 48 percent of their shots over the first 20 minutes and were 5-of-9 from the three-point arc. But their Achilles heel all season long continues to be their inability to break a zone and in the second half that weakness was exposed again. UNLV head coach Lon Kruger went zone early in the second half and the Runnin’ Rebels went on a 22-8 run to eventually bulge their second-half lead to 11 points. Mizzou shot 33 percent in the second half and hit just 4-of-16 three pointers. Despite the problems, the Tigers battled back and even tied the game with just over a minute to go, but Odartey Blankson hit a three pointer with 46 seconds to go to seal it for UNLV. During their five-game skid, the Tigers have been out-scored by an average of 13.5 points in the second half. Linas Kleiza had 24 points, Thomas Gardner had 23 and no other Tiger scored more than five. MU is 10-13.