How did Missouri basketball lose to Charleston Southern?

Missouri basketball played one of its worst games under coach Cuonzo Martin, and the Tigers suffered one of their worst losses at Mizzou Arena.

How did this happen? Missouri basketball, favored by around 25 points Tuesday night, lost to Charleston Southern 68-60 at Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers were favored by a lot; Mizzou was at home; Mizzou was up at halftime. What happened?

Again, Missouri basketball started out slowly. This is the third game in a row where the Tigers got down by nine points or worse to start the game. Mizzou only had three points in the first 10 minutes. Charleston Southern didn’t do much better, but the Buccaneers scored 12 to take the nine-point lead.

Still, Mizzou got the ball in the hoop after that and took a 28-23 lead at halftime. But the slow start still hindered a young Tigers basketball squad. Like in their past two games, Mizzou didn’t have enough energy to keep up late in the game, and Charleston Southern blew past the Tigers.

But unlike in the past two games, the Tigers had a lead. The Buccaneers fought back and forth and took the lead a few times in the second half. Charleston Southern grabbed a three-point lead with 2:30 left in the game and stretched it from there for the win.

The biggest problem in this game was the guard play. The Buccaneers are guard dominant, and they outplayed the Tigers guards. Mizzou’s best two players Tuesday were forwards Jeremiah Tilmon and Mitchell Smith. Guards Dru and Mark Smith were no-shows Tuesday.

They usually show up, but they were a combine 3 of 15 shooting for 11 points. Dru fouled out with more than eight minutes to play. Xavier Pinson, another starting guard Tuesday, only had six points on one field goal. Meanwhile, Charleston Southern’s guards scored nearly 40 of their points.

Tilmon scored 15 points on 5 of 7 while Mitchell Smith added 10 points. He was the only Tiger with multiple 3-pointers as they again were bad from outside, making only four 3-pointers on 24 attempts.

Mizzou plays Temple on the road Saturday. The Tigers have to play much better to compete with the Owls. Mizzou must have full participation from a trio of starters in the Smiths and Tilmon, something they haven’t had for most of the season.