Matter: Road woes continue for Mizzou in loss at Arkansas

[jbcarol]

The recurring nightmare known as Missouri's basketball season continued Saturday with another night terror on the road.

Tigers extended their losing streak to eight games with their 92-73 defeat at Arkansas and have now lost 28 consecutive games on their opponents' home floor.

Missouri has lost 34 straight games to high-major/power 6 teams away from home - across 15 states. Last W came vs A&M in Atlanta (SEC tournament)

While Mizzou's three previous Southeastern Conference games were mostly competitive from tip-off to the final buzzer, Saturday's game at Bud Walton Arena was all Razorbacks, all the time. Mizzou (5-11, 0-4 SEC) never had the lead and trailed by double digits for the game's final 28 minutes and 11 seconds.

Arkansas (13-4, 2-3) came in having lost two consecutive home SEC games — an extreme rarity in Fayetteville —

Arkansas' 92 points were more than Mizzou had allowed in more than a year, the most since last year's 94-61 loss to the Razorbacks on Jan. 12 in Columbia.

The loss dropped Missouri to 0-20 in SEC road games under Anderson and 0-23 on opponents' home courts on his watch. The Tigers have now lost 28 consecutive true road games since Frank Haith's team beat the Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 28, 2014.

Arkansas (13-4, 2-3) shot 55.9 percent for the game, the highest shooting percentage for a Mizzou opponent since that loss to Arkansas last year in Columbia...

"Hats off to Missouri," Mike Anderson said. "They wouldn't go away. They had a chance to really fold the tent, but it's a credit to Kim and those kids, they kept fighting and fighting."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/AustinKKim/status/819411454650621953

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GabeDeArmond/status/820465334532440064

CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Missouri shot 39%. That's dangerously close to 40%. Amazingly, that's higher than we've gotten used to.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN: There are still at least 15 games left to go...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/daniel_m_jones/status/820475098461274112

https://twitter.com/GabeDeArmond/status/820412041475166208

[jbcarol]

Danny Jones ‏@daniel_m_jones 17m17 minutes ago

Gamer from Fayetteville - Dismal second half leads to 8th straight Missouri loss:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu_basketball/dismal-first-half-dooms-missouri-in-eighth-straight-loss/article_3d980b1d-7928-54aa-b54b-0ec7155ddc84.html ...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Bud Walton Arena has not been kind to Missouri.

The Tigers have won only once in 10 attempts at the 23-year-old building.

Arkansas added another bad memory to the catalog Saturday. The Tigers' hapless first half set the tone in a 92-73 loss Saturday.

Missouri (5-11, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) has lost eight in a row and 28 straight on the road.

Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson's frenzied style fired on all cylinders in the first half. The Razorbacks (13-4, 2-3) scored 17 fast-break points and 24 points in the paint before the break, forcing eight Missouri turnovers while allowing only 10 made field goals.

"The pace was up and down the floor," Anderson said. "That's music to our ears."

Despite Arkansas' reputation for breakneck speed, Missouri was still caught off guard by the first-half pressure.

"They seemed a little quicker and faster than they looked on video," Missouri Coach Kim Anderson said. "I know they're quick and fast anyway, but I thought they played with a great burst of urgency. I think they probably felt some urgency, and they certainly displayed that.

"We have to go back and regroup and get ready to go on the road again," Kim Anderson said.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/todpalmer/status/820459464209920000

Former MU coach Mike Anderson's Arkansas squad ran roughshod over the Tigers during a 92-73 victory, the Razorbacks' fifth straight win in the rivalry.

Arkansas dominated in transition, winning 21-6 on fastbreak points, and turned 14 Missouri turnovers into 25 points.

"The first half they did a great job of pushing the basketball," third-year MU coach Kim Anderson said. "We had talked all week about the pace of the game and we wanted to play at a little bit faster pace, but not at the same pace they played at."

It was a familiar winning recipe for the Razorbacks, who snapped a rare two-game skid at home behind five double-digit scorers led by junior Daryl Macon's game-high 17 points.

"It was a very important win tonight," Macon said. "We couldn't drop three in a row. In practice, we started the sense of urgency and tried to carry that over to the game."

The Tigers have lost nine straight Southeastern Conference games dating back to last season and have dropped 28 road games in a row, including 25 straight in SEC play.

Mizzou hoped to slow things down against Arkansas, which has scored at least 71 points in every game this season.

Instead, the Hogs scored a season-high 92 against the Tigers' defense, which had allowed 66.2 points per game in non-conference play but has been clubbed for 82.0 points per game in four SEC games.

There was an ebb and flow to the second half, but Missouri never drew closer than 11 points after trailing 50-36 at the break.

"We had some chances," Kim Anderson said. "We got it to ... 11 and then we couldn't make the plays. You have to give them credit. I thought they played with an extra burst of energy."

Missouri (5-11, 0-4 SEC) led at halftime during its first three SEC games — against LSU, at Georgia and against Auburn — but Arkansas didn't mess around in the opening half...