Mizzou Men's Basketball (10-18, 3-12) connected on a season-high 12 three-pointers, but dropped a hard-fought contest, 85-76, at Ole Miss (18-10, 8-7) Tuesday night. Sophomore guard Namon Wright (Los Angeles, Calif) scored in double digits for the fifth consecutive game with a team-high and individual season-high 20 points, matching his career-high for three-pointers made with six.
Sophomore guard Tramaine Isabell (Seattle, Wash.) reset his career-high with 17 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Freshman forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.) and freshman guard K.J. Walton (Indianapolis, Ind.) also scored in double-digits for the Tigers, each scoring 11 points. Puryear scored in double-digits for the 19th time this season, while Walton led the team with four assists, a season-high. Sophomore forward Jakeenan Gant (Springfield, Ga.) led the team in rebounds with six boards.
Mizzou began the game strong with baskets on their first two possessions of the game from Wright and Puryear. The Tigers utilized a 12-0 run to grab a 24-20 lead with 10:33 left in the half. Redshirt sophomore Jimmy Barton (St. Louis, Mo.) connected on a three-pointer from the right wing to give the Tigers the lead at 22-20. Isabell supplied seven points during the stretch as the Tigers knocked down eight of nine field goal attempts. The Rebels led by five later in the half until Isabell was successful on a three-point play and Walton finished on a fast-break to tie the score, 36-36, with 3:41 left.
In the second half, Puryear and Wright connected on shots from deep to put the Tigers ahead on two separate occasions over the first ten minutes of the half, but Ole Miss responded with a 10-0 run to capture the lead, 64-54 with 9:39 remaining. A three from Wright with 27 seconds left cut the deficit to seven points, but Ole Miss closed out the game at the free throw line for the 85-76 win.
Mizzou returns home to Mizzou Arena to host Texas A&M on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPNU.
