Missouri entered their matchup with Texas riding a three game win streak and decent chance at one of the last spots in the NCAA Tournament. They left Mizzou Arena with a big loss and now face a huge uphill battle to secure a tournament berth.
Texas, now 16-9, was another team battling for one of the last spots in the field. By beating Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night, not only do they further cement their own chances at landing one, but they also steal away one more potential spot from the Tigers.
With just six games remaining, including three against ranked opponents, Mizzou is quickly running out of time to save their season.
Mizzou faces an uphill battle to get a tournament spot after falling flat against Texas
Before the loss to Texas, Missouri had clawed their way back up to 56th in the NET rankings. But now, with another Quad 2 loss, the Tigers are just 3-4 in such games. They likely now need to win, at the very least, three of their final six to stay alive. The Tigers had just recently snuck into the field as ESPN's Joe Lunardi's last team in, but that will be short lived as Mizzou will almost surely now find themselves on the outside looking in for the next bracketology installment.
Texas was supposed to be one of the more winnable game remaining on the Tigers' schedule. But the Longhorns got whatever they wanted in the second half, dropping 52 points and shooting nearly 70 percent from the field. It was certainly a blown opportunity for Mizzou, who now needs to steal a win from top-30 team at some point over the next month.
At 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the SEC, the Tigers will now head to face No. 19 Vanderbilt on Feb. 18.