Missouri basketball, for the first time this season, didn't have the answers for its opposition in the second half.
After eight straight wins to open the season, the Tigers’ perfect start ended Tuesday night with a 76–71 loss at Notre Dame in the ACC/SEC Challenge — a game Missouri led for more than 30 minutes before the Irish wrestled it away with timely shooting and a decisive late 3-pointer.
For most of the night, Missouri looked positioned to escape with another win. The Tigers led 40–33 at halftime, overcoming a sluggish start that included a 0-for-7 opening from behind the arc. That drought ended the moment Jacob Crews checked into the game.
The Crews' 3-point machine drilled back-to-back threes, sparking a 7–0 burst in just 49 seconds and flipping early momentum. Crews finished the half with 14 points, and all three of MU’s made triples.
Defensively, Missouri generated its best offense. Seven first-half steals produced 11 points, including a pair of steal-and-scores from Anthony Robinson II that erased an early six-point deficit. Mark Mitchell, who had 13 by the break, repeatedly carved up the Irish with straight-line drives, and his steal set up Crews’ second three of the night.
But a brief Notre Dame surge to close the half chipped MU’s lead down to seven, and the Irish carried that energy through halftime.
Missouri opened the second half 2-of-10 from the field while Notre Dame found its shooting touch. What had been a controlled MU advantage quickly became a 10–0 Irish run across the break, trimming the Tigers’ lead to two. Notre Dame eventually took its first lead of the night with 13:19 left and later pushed it to seven during an 11–0 burst.
Missouri had one response left, and once again it came from its stars. Crews buried back-to-back threes, Mitchell powered through an and-one, and Robinson floated in a putback, all part of an 11–0 Missouri run in under two minutes that suddenly put the Tigers ahead by four.
Crews ended the night with 22 points and five made threes, while Mitchell delivered his strongest performance of the season with 26 points.
But the Tigers couldn’t close. Scoring dried up again, and Notre Dame executed when it mattered most. With the game tied in the final minute, MU sent a second defender at the ball-handler on a drive, leaving a shooter unmarked in the corner. The long closeout arrived too late—the Irish buried the wide-open three via Cole Certa, the decisive shot of the game.
Tigers' issues came to the forefront against Notre Dame
Outside of Crews and Mitchell, the Tigers lacked offensive production in the second half and from the 3-point line. Mitchell, who had been 0-for-9 on the year, knocked a triple down late. Beyond those two, Missouri managed just 23 total points.
Mizzou returns to action Saturday in Kansas City for its neutral-site rivalry matchup with Kansas. After that comes Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, and the annual Braggin’ Rights meeting with Illinois before SEC play begins.