Mizzou led by as many as 12 in the first half, but came up short, losing 82-78 at LSU. Mizzou lost despite shooting 51.7 percent and four different players scoring in double figures. Dru Smith led Mizzou with 20 points, reaching that mark for the seventh time in his career.
Mizzou was up 43-31 with 1:18 to play in that first half and held on for a six-point halftime lead and had a 69-65 advantage with 6:41 to play, but LSU surged ahead with an 11-2 run to take its first lead since early in the opening half. Mizzou got to within one possession with 50 seconds remaining, but LSU got a key offensive rebound on the ensuing possession and made a game-sealing jumper from the corner to finish off Mizzou.
“I’m not sure we got gassed,” Cuonzo Martin said. “It was a case of playing against a good team and the room for error is very slim. Everything counts. We had the ball in a couple of guys’ hands in vulnerable situations for those particular guys. Other than that, I thought we battled.”
Mizzou drops to 3-8 in SEC play.