COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — PJ Washington and Tyler Herro scored 18 points each as fourth-ranked Kentucky slogged past Missouri 66-58 on Tuesday night.

Ashton Hagans added 12 points for the Wildcats (22-4, 11-2 Southeastern Conference), who looked a little sluggish three days after beating then top-ranked Tennessee. But Kentucky was good enough defensively to hold the Tigers to 37 percent shooting from the field.

Ronnie Suggs scored 13 and Jordan Geist finished with 11 for Missouri (12-13, 3-10 SEC).

After Missouri took an 11-10 advantage with 12:35 left in the first half, Herro scored seven points in a 42-second span to give Kentucky the lead for good. The Tigers got into foul trouble as Kevin Puryear and Jeremiah Tilmon each picked up two quick ones and Mitchell Smith was knocked out of the game after being hit in the head with an inadvertent elbow. Washington racked up 15 first-half points as the Wildcats opened a 41-23 halftime lead.

Kentucky had some attrition up front, also, as starting forward Reid Travis left the game in the second half with a sprained right knee. Missouri did most of its offensive damage late, narrowing its deficit to six points on Torrence Watson’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds left.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: Derrick Chievous, who starred for the Tigers from 1985-88, had his No. 3 jersey retired at halftime. Chievous, who was known for always wearing a Band-Aid during games for no medical reason, is Missouri’s career leading scorer with 2,580 points. He is the seventh Missouri player to have his jersey retired, joining Bill Stauffer, Norm Stewart, Willie Smith, Steve Stipanovich, Jon Sundvold and Doug Smith.

Kentucky: With his 297th victory in 10 years at Kentucky, John Calipari tied Joe B. Hall for second place in wins at the school. Calipari has some work to do to catch the man at the top of the list — Adolph Rupp won 876 games in 42 years leading the Wildcats.

UP NEXT

Missouri: The Tigers play Saturday at Florida.

Kentucky: The Wildcats play host to Auburn on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball (19-8, 8-5 SEC) fell just short against the Tennessee (17-8, 6-6 SEC) on Sunday at Mizzou Arena, falling 62-60. In front of a season-high 8,559 fans, Mizzou and Tennessee had a back-and-forth battle for the full 40 minutes, as both squads shot close to 40 percent from the field, but the Lady Vols pulled out the victory with a pair of free throws with 52 seconds remaining in the game.

Senior forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) scored 13 points and shot a remarkable 86 percent from the field (6-for-7) while snagging nine rebounds to lead the Tigers’ offensive effort. Senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) and junior guard Amber Smith (Shreveport, La.) poured in 13 and 14 points, respectively.

TURNING POINT

With 52 seconds remaining in the game, Mizzou and Tennessee were tied 60-60. Tennessee sophomore Rennia Davis was fouled by Porter on a shooting attempt within the restricted area and headed to the line for a pair of free throws. Davis sunk both shots from the charity stripe free throws to give the Lady Vols a two-point lead. The two made free throws ended up being the game-winning points, as the Tigers were unable to score in the contest’s final seconds.

TOP TIGERS

• Porter filled the stat sheet, finishing with 13 points, a season-high nine rebounds and four assists, along with a block and a steal. Porter has now scored in double-digits three times this season.
• Smith also turned in an impressive performance with 14 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes of action. The junior guard has scored in double-digits in six of the Tigers’ last eight contests.
• Following her dominant 24-point performance against Mississippi State on Thursday, Cunningham turned in another double-digit scoring effort on Sunday. The senior guard contributed 13 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

NOTES

• This home contest was one of the Tigers’ most neck-and-neck games of the season, as the two team’s combined for 17 lead changes and nine ties game.
• With an attendance of 8,559, Sunday’s crowd was a season-high and the fifth-largest in program history.
• After shooting 41.8 percent from the field (23-for-55), Mizzou has now shot 40 percent or better from the field in 13 of its last 15 games.
• Mizzou forced 10 Tennessee turnovers, marking the 20^th time in 27 games Mizzou has forced at least 10 turnovers.
• Porter produced season-highs in rebounds (nine) and assists (four) in the game.

UP NEXT

Next, Mizzou travels to Auburn, Ala. next Sunday to face Auburn on Feb. 24. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi keeps finding big-time contributors on its roster as it continues to make an unexpected push up the Southeastern Conference standings.

Bruce Stevens came off the bench to score 17 points, tying a season-high, to lead Ole Miss over Missouri 75-65 on Saturday for the team’s fourth straight win. The Rebels’ (18-7, 8-4) winning streak comes after a four-game losing skid that threated to derail the season.

KJ Buffen and Breein Tyree added 14 points apiece and Devontae Shuler scored 12.

“It just makes us more of a worthy SEC team,” Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said of Stevens’ elevated play. “That can help us play better in March because he’s got a physical presence, but he can stretch it and go out and make a three. There’s a lot of conventional (centers) out there and he’s a hard matchup.”

Stevens made three 3-pointers and shot 5 of 11 from the field.

The Rebels never trailed after the opening minute despite a dominant rebounding effort from Missouri, which owned a 37-21 advantage on the glass.

The Tigers managed to stay close despite a rough night on offense, but the turnovers and poor first-half shooting were too much to overcome.

Missouri (12-12, 3-9) cut the lead to seven with less than three minutes remaining. The Rebels scored on their next three possessions to end the comeback threat.

“When (the lead) got to 19 we kind of let our guard down and they never stopped,” Davis said. “The biggest thing was we went to our 1-3-1 (zone defense) late just to kind of get time off the clock.”

The Rebels shot 23 of 50 from the field (46 percent) and Missouri went 24 of 51 (47 percent). Ole Miss scored 32 points off of 25 Missouri turnovers.

Jordan Geist led the Tigers with a game-high 23 points. Xavier Pinson added 11 points and nine rebounds.

“It just came down to the twenty-five turnovers,” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Twenty-five turnovers, it’s hard to win a ballgame like that. . If you got a big a guy that can make shots on the perimeter it opens everything up and you’re hard to defend. That’s the difference in (Ole Miss). When (Stevens) is making shots like that from the perimeter they are a different team.”

BIG PICTURE

Ole Miss: The Rebels’ four-game winning streak has pushed the team back into the top half of the SEC standings. Ole Miss has a chance to solidify its NCAA Tournament resume with games against South Carolina and Georgia next week.

Missouri: Missouri couldn’t build off the momentum of Tuesday’s win against Arkansas. The Tigers did some good things, but the 25 turnovers were a huge problem. Things won’t get any easier over the next three games when they face Kentucky, Florida and Mississippi State.

TRAVEL ISSUES

Missouri had an unconventional road trip to Mississippi, flying to Oxford on Saturday morning instead of Friday. The Tigers tried to leave early Friday to beat the winter weather that was coming to mid-Missouri but couldn’t because of issues with the flight crew. They arrived in Oxford just hours before Saturday’s game.

UP NEXT

Ole Miss: At South Carolina on Tuesday

Missouri: Hosts No. 5 Kentucky on Tuesday

— Associated Press —

Columbia, Mo. – Former Mizzou Men’s Basketball standout Melvin Booker has been named a 2019 Allstate® SEC Basketball Legend, as announced by the league office on Friday. The 21st annual SEC Basketball Legends class will be honored at the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Each legend will be recognized at halftime of his institution’s first game at the tournament.

A 1994 All-American and 1994 Big Eight Player of the Year, Booker racked up 1,697 career points, which still ranks seventh on Mizzou’s all-time scoring list. Booker was the catalyst for Mizzou’s 14-0 run through the Big Eight Conference in 1994 as a senior.

Booker averaged 18.1 points per game during the 1993-94 campaign and piled up 143 assists and 41 steals while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 82.3 percent from the free throw line. He led the Tigers to an Elite Eight run in the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Booker finished his career with 120 career points in NCAA Tournaments, the third-most by any Tiger in program history. He still holds the Mizzou NCAA Tournament record for free throw percentage, shooting a blistering 90 percent (27-of-30) at the charity stripe in the Big Dance over seven games.

Booker was a two-time First Team All-Big Eight honoree (1993 and 1994). He remains 10th all-time in Mizzou history in career field goals made (566), ninth in career 3-pointers made (183), eighth in career free throws made (382), third in career assists (488) and fourth in career assists per game (3.9). Booker was one of 20 Tigers honored on Mizzou’s All-Century Team.

The 2019 class also includes Erwin Dudley, Alabama; Corey Beck, Arkansas; Mike Mitchell, Auburn; Livingston Chatman, Florida; Jumaine Jones, Georgia; Johnny Cox, Kentucky; Wayde Sims, LSU; Justin Reed, Ole Miss; Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State; Carlos Powell, South Carolina; Mike Jackson, Tennessee; Antoine Wright, Texas A&M; Derrick Byars, Vanderbilt.

— Mizzou Athletics —

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored 24 points, Amber Smith added 16 and Missouri upset No. 5 Mississippi State 75-67 on Thursday night.

The game remained tight until the final minute when Cierra Porter made a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left — her first points of the game — to give Missouri a six-point advantage.

Missouri (19-7, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) trailed for much of the night, but pulled ahead 55-54 on Akira Levy’s layup at the third-quarter buzzer. The Tigers pushed their advantage 60-56 early in the fourth quarter and never trailed again, fending off multiple Mississippi State rallies.

Missouri shot 55 percent from the field and made 11 3-pointers.

Mississippi State (22-2, 10-1) had its 12-game winning streak snapped. The Bulldogs also had won 26 straight regular-season SEC games dating to last season.

Anriel Howard led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Teaira McCowan added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Mississippi State needed Andra Espinoza-Hunter’s midrange jumper at the buzzer to take a 35-34 halftime lead. Howard led the Bulldogs with 11 points before the break. Cunningham had 13.

2,000 POINTS

Missouri’s Cunningham passed 2,000 points for her career with a 3-pointer during the second quarter. The 6-foot-1 guard has been a consistent scorer throughout her career, scoring 448 points as a freshman, 541 as a sophomore and 574 as a junior. She already has 452 points this season.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: It’s a huge win for the Tigers, who had lost their previous four road games. Cunningham was excellent as usual and she got a lot of help from her teammates. The Tigers now have a 2-7 record against Mississippi State.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs had a tough night on both ends of the floor, but especially on defense. The Tigers got a lot of open looks from 3-point range and made a bunch of them. Mississippi State has another tough game on Sunday against Texas A&M.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Tennessee on Sunday.

Mississippi State: At No. 22 Texas A&M on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

Columbia, Mo. – The University of Missouri has filed its Notice of Appeal with the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee, Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced. The appeal was filed late Thursday afternoon.

“We believe that the Committee on Infractions abused its discretion in applying penalties to the University of Missouri Athletics program, and we look forward to appearing before the Appeals Committee in the future to present our case,” Sterk said. “Mizzou’s case involved an isolated incident within our program, however, the penalties applied are overly harsh, not in line with established precedent and negatively impact student-athletes who chose to attend the University of Missouri and had nothing to do with the actions of one rogue individual.

“It appears that our cooperation throughout this process went largely unnoticed, which I believe will have a chilling effect and force other institutions to take a different approach in dealing with these type issues, which will not be in the best interest of the NCAA or intercollegiate athletics,” he added.

The University’s appeal team will be headed by Bond, Schoeneck & King’s Mike Glazier, who has worked side-by-side with Mizzou on this case since the fall of 2016. Mizzou will also be working with other legal advisors throughout the appeals process

The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee will acknowledge receipt of Mizzou’s Appeal Notice in a timely manner, and the University will then have 30 days to file its written appeal. The entire process is expected to take a minimum of six months to complete.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri locked down on the final defensive possession and squeaked by Arkansas 79-78 Tuesday night.

The Tigers were up three points with 17 seconds remaining when Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford threw down an alley-oop dunk from Jalen Harris. On the ensuing inbound play, Missouri’s Xavier Pinson committed a push-off foul to give Arkansas the ball back and a chance to win.

Missouri’s Jeremiah Tilmon didn’t allow Harris to get a quality shot off, and the ball was tipped back to him as time expired.

Tilmon led Missouri (12-11, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) with 21 points. Senior Jordan Geist contributed 18 points as the Tigers avoided falling below .500 for the first time since Cuonzo Martin took over as head coach at the beginning of last season.

The Tigers erupted for 46 points in the first half, eclipsing their previous season high of 45 against Morehead State on Dec. 29.

Gafford led Arkansas (14-10, 5-6) with 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting. He scored the Razorbacks’ first 10 points of the game.

Arkansas shot 47 percent from the field. The Tigers won the turnover battle 12-11 and outrebounded Arkansas 39-33.

BIG PICTURE

Arkansas: The Razorbacks had a chance to win, but instead it turns into a loss that will hurt their NCAA Tournament chances.

Missouri: The Tigers have struggled to maintain leads recently, so holding off Arkansas’ comeback attempt was a step in the right direction. Missouri is still off the radar in terms of NCAA Tournament hopes.

UP NEXT

Arkansas returns home to face Mississippi State on Saturday.

Missouri hits the road to take on Mississippi on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Following her 43rd and 44th career 20-point games, Mizzou Women’s Basketball senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, announced by the conference office Tuesday. Cunningham averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in Mizzou’s wins over No. 18 Texas A&M (Feb. 7) and Vanderbilt (Feb. 10).

Cunningham continues to lead active SEC players with 11 weekly honors in her career. This is the second time this season, and the fifth time in her career she has been named the SEC Player of the Week. In 2015-16, Cunningham earned a conference record six Freshman of the Week nods, a mark which was tied today with Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard earning her sixth Freshman of the Week nod.

Cunningham has been recognized among the best in the nation this season, as she sits on the watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, the Wade Trophy and the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award.

The Tiger senior led Mizzou to a 70-65 overtime victory over No. 18 Texas A&M on Thursday, as Cunningham notched her 12th career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Cunningham matched a career-high with 12 rebounds and set a career high with 44 minutes played in the game. Cunningham accounted for six of Mizzou’s nine total points in overtime, and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the extra period.

On Sunday, Cunningham scored 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds and matched a career-high with seven three-pointers in Mizzou’s 69-46 win over Vanderbilt. Cunningham became the second Tiger to ever make seven threes in an SEC game, as she joins Morgan Eye, who made 11 against Auburn on Jan. 6, 2013. It marked the 11th time this season and the 44th time in her career she has reached 20 points, as Mizzou moved to 10-1 in games this season in which she has scored 20+ points.

Cunningham has been on a recent scoring-tear, as she has averaged 22.4 points per game over her last seven contests with five 20-point games. The Tiger senior ranks near the top of numerous statistical categories in the SEC, as she ranks fourth in three-point percentage (42.9 percent), fifth in scoring (17.1 ppg), fifth in three-pointers made (2.4) sixth in field goal percentage (49.5 percent), seventh in free throw percentage (79.7 percent). In conference games only, Cunningham leads the SEC in three-point percentage (54.7 percent) and three-pointers made per game (3.2), and ranks third in scoring (18.7 ppg), third in field goal percentage (55.8 percent), sixth in free throw percentage (87.8 percent).

Cunningham is the SEC career active scoring leader with 1,991 points, and ranks sixth in career rebounds (646) and seventh in assists (363). Among program records, Cunningham currently ranks second in career three-point percentage (.407), third in scoring (1,991 points), third in free throws made (480), third in free throw percentage (.830), third in three-pointers made (213), fourth in career points per game (16.7) and fifth in assists (363).

Mizzou hits the road this week for a matchup with No. 5 Mississippi State on Thursday before returning home to Mizzou Arena on Sunday to host Tennessee.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named to the Citizen Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club Monday. The list includes 30 players for the Women’s National Player of the Year award.

The midseason team will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists on March 4, 2019, then four finalists will be named on March 22, 2019, with the winner being announced on April 6, 2019.

Cunningham has been recognized among the best in the nation this season. In addition to the Naismith Trophy midseason team, Cunningham also currently sits on the watch lists for the Wooden Award, the Wade Trophy and the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award.

Cunningham has been on a recent scoring-tear, as she has averaged 22.4 points per game over her last seven contests with five 20-point games. Cunningham scored 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds and matched a career-high with seven three-pointers in Mizzou’s 69-46 win over Vanderbilt on Sunday. It marked the 11th time this season and the 44th time in her career she has reached 20 points, as Mizzou moved to 10-1 in games this season in which she has scored 20+ points. Earlier in the week, the Tiger senior led Mizzou to a 70-65 overtime victory over No. 18 Texas A&M on Thursday, as Cunningham notched her 12th career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Cunningham is the SEC career active scoring leader with 1,991 points, and ranks sixth in career rebounds (646) and seventh in assists (363). Among program records, Cunningham currently ranks second in career three-point percentage (.407), third in scoring (1,991 points), third in free throws made (480), third in free throw percentage (.830), third in three-pointers made (213), fourth in career points per game (16.7) and fifth in assists (363).

Last season, Cunningham earned AP All-America Honorable Mention and All-SEC First Team honors for the second consecutive season after averaging 18.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. She was the only player in the nation to shoot better than 54 percent from the field (54.2 percent, 186-for-343), 45 percent from three (45.7 percent, 69-for-151) and 83 percent from the free throw line (83.6 percent, 133-for-159).

Mizzou hits the road this week for a matchup with No. 6 Mississippi State on Thursday before returning home to Mizzou Arena on Sunday to host Tennessee.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball (18-7, 7-4) cruised to a 69-46 victory over Vanderbilt (6-17, 1-9) on Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. With the win, head coach Robin Pingeton recorded her 500^th career victory as the Tiger improved to 6-0 at Mizzou in SEC play.

Senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) led the charge, scoring 27 points and tallying eight rebounds. Senior forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) contributed 15 points, a season-high, and snagged 7 rebounds. The Tigers also scored 12 second-chance points, largely thanks to sophomore forward Emmanuelle Tahane (Bondy, France) pulling down five offensive boards.

TURNING POINT

The Tiger offense started the game on fire, opening the game on a 12-2 run. Cunningham led the team as she drilled four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the game. The defense also chipped in, holding Vanderbilt to just 15 points in the first half. The Tiger defense also held the Commodores to only seven field goals in the first half.

TOP TIGERS

• With 27 points and eight rebounds, Cunningham continued her recent dominance. She now has scored 20+ points 11 times this season. Cunningham also tied a career-high in three-pointers as she drilled seven shots from beyond the arc.
• Porter tallied 15 points and snagged seven rebounds. Her 15 points are the most she has scored since returning to the court this season.
• Tahane pulled down eight rebounds, a career-high, while scoring six points. The sophomore forward also snagged five offensive boards, a season-high.

NOTES

• Pingeton notched her 500^th career victory with the win over Vanderbilt. At Mizzou alone, she now has 165 victories. Among active head coaches, she stands in second place in the SEC and 32^ndoverall among Division-I head coaches.
• Redshirt senior guard Lauren Aldridge (Marshfield, Mo.) dished out five assists today, pushing her over 400 career-assists. She now has 176 assists in her career at Mizzou.
• With eight rebounds on the day, Tahane recorded a career-high. Tahane also snagged a season-high five offensive boards.
• Cunningham drilled seven three-pointers in the game, setting a new season-high and tying a career high that came against SIUE (12/10/17).
• Cunningham tallied 27 points, the 11^th time this season that she has recorded 20+ points. The Tigers move to 10-1 on the season when Cunningham scores 20 points or more.
• Over her last seven contests, Cunningham is averaging 22.4 points per game with five 20-point games.
• Porter recorded 15 points, the highest mark since she has returned to the court this season. She previously had 12 against Auburn (1/27/18)
• With three free-throws made, Porter now ranks 10^th all-time at Mizzou with 323.
• With two free throws, Cunningham has made 480 free throws in her career, just two behind of sole possession of first place all-time in Mizzou history.
• The Tiger defense came up strong, holding the Commodores to 22% from the field and just 15 points in the first half. This is the third time this season that Mizzou has held an opponent to 15 points or below in one half.
• Mizzou has now held its opponents to 65 points or less in 22 of 25 games this season.

UP NEXT

Next, Mizzou hits the road as the Tigers are set to battle No. 6 Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss. on Thursday, Feb. 14. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —