COLUMBIA, MO.— Playing in its fifth road game in the past six outings, No. 12 Mizzou lost a high-scoring affair to Auburn, 88-82, on Tuesday night. Mizzou drops to 10-3 on the season. Auburn used 44 trips to the free throw line and a 28-point effort from Sharife Cooper to hold off Mizzou in the high-octane matchup.
Redshirt senior Dru Smith surpassed the 1,000-career point plateau with a season-high 21 points. He went 8-for-8 from the free throw line and added three steals and three assists. Senior Jeremiah Tilmon secured his fifth double-double in the last eight games with 21 points, 10 boards and a career-high six blocks.
After a strong opening 10 minutes, Auburn led by as many as 14, but Mizzou clawed back and even took a seven-point led early in the second half. The seesaw battle continued though, as Auburn surged back in front late and held off another comeback. Auburn won the battle on the glass, 46-39.
Turning Point
In game of runs, Mizzou seized a second-half advantage with a 15-4 spurt to go ahead 50-43. Auburn responded quickly with a 7-0 run to knot the score. The two squads traded buckets and the score remained deadlocked at 62-62 with 7:59 remaining. That’s when Auburn catapulted in front for good with an 10-2 run, punctuated with six consecutive free throws. Mizzou would get within five again, but Auburn cashed in at the charity stripe to stave off a comeback.
Top Tigers
- Redshirt senior Dru Smith scored a season-high 21 points, and tallied four boards, three assists and three steals.
- Jeremiah Tilmon’s 21 points and 10 rebounds gave him his fifth double-double of the season – career-high for a campaign. He tacked on a career high six blocks, a pair of steals, and a dime.
- Junior Javon Pickett reached double figures for the fifth time with an SEC-high 13 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting.
Game Notes
- With Jeremiah Tilmon’s career high six swats on the night, he tied Gary Leonard for 8th on the Mizzou all-time career blocks list with 95. He has 14 blocks over the last four games combined.
- Jeremiah Tilmon recorded his fifth double-double on the season, the most by a Tiger in a single campaign since Jordan Barnett in 2017-18.
- Tilmon is just the third different Tiger since 2010 with six blocks in a game, joining Laurence Bowers and Ricardo Ratliffe.
- Dru Smith joined the 1,000 career point club with 21 points and now has 1,016 career points over his time at Evansville and Mizzou.
Up Next
Mizzou returns to Columbia for a three-game homestand starting Saturday vs. TCU. The Tigers and Horned Frogs meet in the Big 12/SEC Challenge with tip-off set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
