A lineup change didn’t change the result for the Missouri basketball team Tuesday at Mississippi State. For the first time in his two seasons at Missouri, Cuonzo Martin brought center Jeremiah Tilmon off the bench, but no matter the rotation on the floor, the Tigers couldn’t keep up in a 68-49 loss in Starkville, Miss.
The Bulldogs (21-7, 9-6 Southeastern Conference), trying to chase down a top-four seed for the SEC tournament, led for all but 34 seconds at Humphrey Coliseum in their fifth straight win and pulled away with a 19-4 run in the second half.
Jordan Geist’s 3-pointer with 8:36 left got the Tigers (12-15, 3-12) within five points for the fourth time in the second half, but Martin’s team went cold the rest of the night, making just one of nine shots over the game’s final seven minutes.