J’Covan Brown scored 20 points, but was unable to prevent Texas (13-9, 3-6) from falling to the Missouri Tigers (20-2, 7-2) 67-66. Brown struggled in the first half scoring only four points, but really picked up the pace in the second half. Brown didn’t seem to have his shot shooting only 7-of-18 for the game and making only 1-of-7 three point attempts. He was able to put Texas up 66-65 late in the game, but the ‘Horns were unable to hang on.

Julien Lewis had 12 points of his own, continuing his pattern of inconsistency that has been the theme of the year for this team. Lewis had eight points in the first half and seemingly carried the offense during the stretch. He also sunk two crucial free throws with just over a minute left in the game to bring the game within one point 65-64.

Myck Kabongo had 10 points, but was limited in the first half by foul trouble. With him out for the second part of the first half, the offense really struggled to get quality shots. Jonathan Holmes had seven points and nine rebounds in his first start in a couple of games. Clint Chapman had six points, all in the second half, and seven boards. Jaylen Bond had five points and seven boards as well. Alexis Wangmene had four points but only one rebound while Sheldon McClellan had only two points on 1-of-4 shooting.

Michael Dixon led the Tigers with 21 points off the bench on 9-of-10 from the field. Ricardo Ratliffe and Phil Pressey both had 13 points apiece. Texas played much better defending the three ball in this contest holding Missouri to only 5-of-14 shooting, but unfortunately they shot worse going 2-of-12. Texas dominated second chance points 22 to six, but was still unable to keep itself from falling behind by a wide margin in the game. The ‘Horns also continue to struggle from the foul line shooting only 16-of-24 in the loss, this being the third game in a row that the ‘Horns have been unable to take advantage of their opportunities from the charity stripe.

Game Grade: C+

This game was Déjà vu for the Longhorn faithful. The ‘Horns trailed by as many as 13 points 39-26 with 15:29 left in this game, but rallied back to cut it to two 50-48. Texas then allowed Mizzou to take their lead back to double digits 63-53 with 3:57 to play in the game. Like in their previous three losses, the Longhorns didn’t give up and were even able to take a 66-65 lead with under minute to go in the game.

This is when poor execution plagued this team yet again, as the Tigers took a 67-66 lead with 31 seconds left in the contest, and failed to produce an offensive opportunity when the game was on the line. The shot was poorly drawn up and was very rushed with time winding down. Texas seemingly wasn’t prepared for the zone of Missouri as the Tigers forced the ball away from Brown’s hands. As a result, Myck Kabongo couldn’t hit a tough shot. Texas took way too much time in the possession and were unable to get a rebound or foul before time ran out.

This game showed no visible progress by the team. They were able to make it close at the end of the game against another top 10 opponent, but they did that against KU and Baylor as well. Texas struggled from the foul line, which could have ended up costing them the game. As a result of the rushed play, and awful execution despite having a timeout in his pocket, Barnes showed that he still can’t overcome and learn from the previous losses. The blame is starting to roll onto Barnes, and mostly due to the way the ‘Horns have finished when the game is on the line.

The ‘Horns need to realize that they have to stay away from falling into a big deficit early in the game like they have the past few games. To do this, the offense needs to jump out to an early start instead of attempting to claw back with just a few minutes left. Right now, there are way too many possessions in which Texas looks completely out of place on the offensive side of the ball, and in this game, those possessions led to Missouri baskets with numbers. Despite McClellan playing a lot of minutes due to Kabongo’s foul trouble, Texas also failed to get him shots yet again. With an offense struggling for stretches like this one is, not getting the ball to your second leading scorer is just bad coaching. Texas also failed to attack Missouri’s bigs, despite their forwards getting into foul trouble and the team having no depth. Also, there were too many wasted possessions and missed jumpers.

Most importantly, this loss dampens Texas’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament for the 14th straight time under Rick Barnes. Texas’ bubble may be close to bursting, and unless they can change their pattern of dropping close games (0-6 in games decided by five points or less), this team will fall when hosting Baylor and Kansas State, their best remaining chances at a quality win. Texas should be favored in four games the rest of the way (at and hosting Texas Tech, hosting Oklahoma, at Texas A&M), could be favorites in two (at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State), and will be underdogs in three of the final games (hosting Baylor and Kansas State, and at Kansas). If Texas hopes to make the tournament, they will have to win all the games they are favored in and at least Kansas State and either A) Baylor or Kansas or B) win again against Iowa State or Kansas State in the Big XII Tournament. If they can do this, their resume should be okay and they will be a big name program with over 20 wins. Despite the recent woes, the Longhorns have shown that they can compete with a few potential top three seeds.