Coming off a 30-point victory against South Carolina, the Mizzou Tigers faced a tough challenge as they squared off against the Vanderbilt Commodores in a packed Memorial Gymnasium.
While unranked, Vanderbilt has been a sneaky threat to SEC teams all year long. In fact, the Commodores entered this game as winners of their past two contests, both of which came against ranked opponents.
To begin the game, both teams struggled to put points on the board, with just 27 points scored by the ten-minute mark of the first half.
Despite the slow start by both teams, Caleb Grill came off the bench for the Tigers and made an impact, scoring 11 of the team’s next 13 points.
All half long, Chris Manon almost single-handedly kept the Commodores in the game, despite them trailing by 9 points at the break.
In addition to Grill, Tamar Bates was impressive throughout the first half, notching 10 points on an efficient 4-for-7 shooting. The duo combined for 26 of the team's 38 points in the opening half.
In the first half, the story of the game was the Commodores' poor shooting. Particularly from beyond the arc, the Commodores shot a dismal 1-for-13 from 3-point range and struggled to get any shots to fall.
Despite going ice cold from the field in the first half, the Commodores turned it around in the second. Sharpshooters Tyler Nickel and Jason Edwards elevated their play, helping the Commodores shoot an impressive 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.
As Vanderbilt got hot in the second half, Mark Mitchell responded with 14 points of his own. Despite shooting just 3-for-5 from the field in the half, Mitchell made his impact at the free-throw line, knocking down 8 of his 9 attempts from the stripe.
Anthony Robinson II also had a second half to remember, scoring 14 points between the second half and overtime. He hit big shot after big shot, keeping the Tigers ahead and crucially contributing to their success in the game.
With just 12 seconds remaining in the game, Jason Edwards hit a massive 3-point shot to cut the Tigers' lead to just one.
After a pair of free throws made by Caleb Grill, the Commodores had one more shot, and it was none other than Tyler Nickel who drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with just 2.3 seconds remaining, forcing overtime.
A costly decision by Coach Gates not to foul while leading by three points proved to be detrimental, as Nickel got an open look to tie the game. Gates also failed to call a timeout and make the most of the remaining time before the end of regulation. Ultimately, these back-to-back decisions sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, A.J. Hoggard led the way for the Commodores as they managed to knock off the Tigers in a 97-93 thriller.
On Wednesday, the Tigers will play their final road game of the 2024-25 campaign as they travel to Norman to face off against the Oklahoma Sooners at 7 p.m. CST.