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Men's Basketball

@MizzouHoops 2018-19 Season Comes to a Close with 81-71 Loss to Auburn

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Men's Basketball fell to No. 22 Auburn, 81-71, in the second round of the 2019 SEC Tournament on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn., bringing the Tigers' 2018-19 campaign to a close.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Men's Basketball fell to No. 22 Auburn, 81-71, in the second round of the 2019 SEC Tournament on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn., bringing the Tigers' 2018-19 campaign to a close. Mizzou shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from beyond the arc and tied the game at 52-52 with 11:52 to go and kept pace with Auburn for the next eight minutes of gameclock, but Auburn staved off an upset with clutch buckets late.

Senior Jordan Geist followed a career-high 30-point performance on Wednesday with a game-high 25 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Geist hit five triples and finished the SEC Tournament averaging 27.5 points per game over two outings.

Freshman Torrence Watson poured in 20 points, giving Mizzou two players with 20+ points in the same game for just the second time this season. Sophomores Mitchell Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon chipped in eight points apiece.

TURNING POINT

After Watson hit one of his career-high six treys to knot the score at 52-52 with 11:22 to go, Auburn forward Horace Spencer tossed in a circus shot to complete a 3-point play. That jumpstarted a 9-0 run that gave Auburn a 61-52 advantage. Mizzou would battle back to cut it to two possessions on three different occasions, but Auburn never relinquished its lead the rest of the way.

TOP TIGERS

  • Senior guard Jordan Geist scored a game-high 25 points. He matched his career-high with five 3-pointers for third time in his career. Geist's 30-point and 25-point performances in the last two games marked the best back-to-back scoring outputs of his career.
  • Freshman Torrence Watson matched his career-high with 20 points, hitting a career-high six threes.
  • Watson became the first freshman since 2015 to hit six 3-pointers in a game (Namon Wright vs. Florida on Feb. 24, 2015).
  • Mitchell Smith scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in 27 minutes.

GAME NOTES

  • Mizzou made a season-high 15 3-pointers, its most in a game since draining 16 against Auburn in the 2017 SEC Tournament. It marked just the third game with 15+ triples since 2011.
  • Watson and Geist combined 45 points matched the most scored by a Mizzou duo in a game this season.

UP NEXT

With Thursday's loss, Mizzou's 2018-19 campaign came to a close. 

For all the latest on Mizzou Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@MizzouHoops).