COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Plenty went right for the Missouri Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. Check it out:
Sophomore forward Johnathan Williams III scored a career-high 27 points, including 23 in the second half.
Senior point guard Keith Shamburger played all but 15 seconds and did not commit a turnover while passing for six assists and scoring 15 points. He also made all six of his free throws, giving him 15 in a row and upping his percentage to 89.7 for the season.
Junior forward Ryan Rosburg came off the bench to make six of seven shots for a season-high 12 points.
Freshman wing D'Angelo Allen, making his first start, grabbed as many offensive rebounds (five) as the entire Mississippi State team.
Freshmen Namon Wright and Tekie Gill-Caesar returned from a suspension for violating team policies after two games. (But: They shot a combined three for 15.)
And despite all that has gone wrong for them over the past several weeks, the Tigers found enough heart and determination to overcome a 17-point first-half deficit to actually take a lead with 4:29 left.
But alas, all that was not enough. The losing streak reached 11 and Missouri fell deeper into the basement of the SEC with a 77-74 setback.
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"You've heard it before, we got close and we just couldn't finish the deal," Tigers coach Kim Anderson said. "We had a chance to finish it but ... we couldn't finish the deal."
A better first half would have helped but the Tigers came out lacking the tenacity typically supplied by their leader, Wes Clark. They better get used to not having him because he is out for the season after suffering a dislocated right elbow Tuesday night.
While there was concern about how the Tigers would distribute ball-handling responsibilities without Clark, they actually missed his ball-hawking ability more against the Bulldogs. Mississippi State (12-13, 5-7) is not known for its shot-making, but the Bulldogs made 14 of their 19 attempts -- including seven in a row at one point -- to take a 40-29 lead into halftime.
Then Williams, who spent much of the first half on the bench with two fouls, got busy about four minutes into the second half. He stopped looking for his jump shot and started facing the basket once he caught the ball. From that position, he either shot over his defender or beat him to the basket. He made seven of 11 shots and six of eight free throws after the intermission to best his previous high by five points.
"His talent level is really high," Bulldogs coach Rick Ray said. "When you're on a team that's struggling, people will surround Johnathan Williams. But he did a good job of attacking and not settling."
At one point, Ray said one of his players asked if he should front Williams when he set up away from the basket.
Said Ray: "Can you guard him?"
"No," said the player, according to Ray.
Ray: "Then front him."
The Tigers went to Williams often down the stretch, including twice in the final seven seconds when they trailed by four.
Out of a timeout, Williams badly missed a 3-pointer from the corner, but the Tigers maintained possession, got it back to Williams and he made one from well beyond the 3-point line to make the score 75-74.
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The Tigers then fouled Craig Sword, who made both free throws to account for the final margin. The Bulldogs went six for six from the line in the final minute.
"I'm really kind of tired of moral victories," Anderson said, but still pointing to the positives. "I'm proud of the guys. We didn't give up. We got down 17, we could have got down 34. We came back and we took the lead. So yeah, I see bright spots.
"But in this league, you have to play 40 minutes and we haven't been able to do that. Until we do that or until the other team just plays really bad, it's hard to win."
Even when a lot goes right.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
