Jonathan Williams III had a big second half as the Missouri Tigers overcame a 17-point in the first half to actually taking the lead late in the second half, before eventually falling to Mississippi State 77-74. The loss for the Tigers is their 11th straight.

Mizzou jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but then Mississippi State went on a 20-6 run to open a nine point at the 12 minute mark. The lead grew to 17 at 33-16 with just over seven minutes to go in the first half, as the Bulldogs were hitting 74% of their shots from the floor.

Mississippi State finished the first half at 67% shooting. Meanwhile, Missouri had open looks, but couldn’t hit their shots, going just 12 of 31 including just 4 of 14 from three point range to finish 39% overall for the half.

The Tigers struggled defensively inside as Keanau Post sat most of the first half after picking up two quick fouls in the first four minutes. Ryan Rosburg led the Tigers with eight points on 4 of 4 shooting.

Rosburg missed his first attempt of the second half on a running layup for his only miss as he finished the game with 12 points on 6 of 7 shooting.

Kim Anderson’s opening comments

Jonathan Williams III carried the team back in the second half Williams scored 23 of his game high 27 in the second half as the Tigers grabbed the lead briefly at 64-63 with just 4:31 to play, but the lead only lasted 20 seconds as State retook the lead and never relinquished.

The rally started when D’Angelo Allen dunk a missed three from Keith Shamburger with 17:57 to play. It cut the deficit to 42-33 and brought the fans and team to life, as the Tigers got to within one possession a handful of times before a jumper from Post game Mizzou their one point lead.