In its third overall appearance in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, Mizzou suffered a road loss to No. 14 West Virginia, 74-51. Mizzou scrapped defensively in the opening half, and sliced a 14-point deficit to one at the break with a 17-4 run as West Virginia entered the locker room up 24-23. West Virginia’s 24 first-half points were its second-fewest in an opening frame this season and its fewest since Nov. 26.
The Mountaineers came out firing in the second half, and surged ahead by double digits. West Virginia never relinquished that advantage, shooting 50 percent in the final 20 minutes.Torrence Watson led Mizzou with 19 points off the bench, reaching double figures for the fourth time this season. It marked his second consecutive game in double figures for the first time in 2019-20.
Mizzou missed their first nine shot attempts and their first points of the second half came on a dunk by Axel Okongo with 12:24 to play in the game. By the WVU had a 20 point lead. The Tigers were also just 7-or-26 (26.9%) from three-point range and turned the ball over 16 times, while West Virginia’s defense came away with ten steals. Missouri missed 18 of its first 20 shots of the game.
Defensively, the held one of WVU’s big men, Derek Culver, to just 2-of-10 shooting but couldn’t slow down Oscar Tshiebwe, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
