COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The difference in Mississippi State’s 76-62 victory over Missouri Saturday night boiled down to one category; 3-point shooting.

The Bulldogs shot 8 of 23 from 3-point range while Missouri made only two of its 25 3-point attempts.

Malik Newman led all scorers with 19 points, including 11 in the first half. He shot 4 of 7 in the first half, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

Quinndary Weatherspoon had 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, marking his first career double-double.

It’s the Bulldogs’ first road victory since Feb. 14, 2015 when they defeated Missouri 53-43.

“That was a great win for us,” said Mississippi State coach Ben Howland. “It’s huge to get a win, period. But when it’s on the road, it’s always sweeter. I always tell my team the funnest wins are on the road because it’s us against the world.”

Missouri struggled offensively, particularly in the first half. Following an old fashioned 3-point play by K.J. Walton, Mississippi State turned up the defense and held the Tigers scoreless for 3:11 seconds.

Howland attributed Missouri’s poor shooting to his team’s defense.

“We elected to go back to the zone which is something I promised I wouldn’t do the rest of the year, but it was the right thing to do,” Howland said. “Missouri is not a great 3-point shooting team. We hadn’t played in a zone for the last four games so I don’t think there was any preparation by Missouri for us to play zone.”

Mississippi State led 37-20 at halftime after closing the first half on a 14-5 run. The Bulldogs made 6 of 13 3-pointers in the half, while Missouri missed all 13 of its 3-point attempts.

After trailing by as many as 22 points, Missouri found life in the second half following a 15-4 run that cut the deficit to 11 and reenergized the crowd. That energy was short lived as the Bulldogs answered with an 11-4 run.

“We obviously didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Missouri coach Kim Anderson. “It probably was the difference in the game. I don’t think we’re a great team, but I think we’re better than we played tonight. I think we’re struggling with our confidence.”

Namon Wright led Missouri (8-13, 1-7 SEC) with 16 points and nine rebounds. Wright had 10 points in the second half and shot 6 of 12 from the field.

“We don’t show up every night,” Wright said. “Good teams in this league show up every night, at home, and that’s what we have to do to become a good team.”

Jakeenan Gant had 11 points and five rebounds in 14 minutes and Terrence Phillips had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Mississippi State (9-11, 2-6) outrebounded the Tigers 43-34 without their best rebounder, Gavin Ware, who is out with a concussion. Ware is the Bulldogs leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 15.7 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game.

TIP-INS

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs lead the SEC in free-throw percentage at 74.5 percent. …Freshman Elijah Staley is no longer on the team after joining in December. Staley is a backup quarterback and has chosen to concentrate his efforts on football. …Craig Sword is the active scoring leader in the SEC with 1,327 career points. He finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Missouri: Freshman Kevin Puryear scored his 200th point in a 60-57 loss to Georgia Jan. 20 becoming the sixth-fastest player in school history to eclipse that mark. …Tramaine Isabell was suspended indefinitely prior to the game. Anderson cited Isabell’s “practice attitude and conduct” for the suspension. Isabell did not play in Missouri’s previous two games, an 88-54 loss at No. 20 Kentucky and a 66-53 loss at No. 10 Texas A&M.

WHERE’S WARE?: Mississippi State’s leading scorer Gavin Ware did not travel with the team due to a concussion. Ware averages 15.7 points per game and also leads the team in rebounding with 7.3 per game. His player efficiency rating of 30.33 ranks second in the SEC behind LSU’s Ben Simmons (32.16).

COURTSIDE: Missouri held its Annual Coaches vs. Cancer “Whiteout” theme, encouraging all fans to wear white. Missouri’s coaching staff wore white tennis shoes in recognition of cancer research and awareness.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State hosts Alabama Tuesday.

Missouri hosts Ole Miss Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Lindsey Cunningham hit three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points to lead the 22nd-ranked Missouri women past LSU 52-46 Thursday night.

Morgan Stock scored 12 — on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range — and Jordan Frericks added eight points, nine rebounds and three assists for Missouri.

Missouri (17-4, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) went into the half leading 33-16 but went scoreless for more than seven minutes to open the third. LSU outscored Missouri 19-4 in the quarter and trimmed its deficit to two by the start of the fourth.

Stock scored nine during an 11-2 run that extended the lead to 48-37 with 49 seconds to play and Missouri held on from there.

Alexis Hyder scored a season-high 23 points, on 8-of-11 shooting, and had five steals to lead LSU (8-13, 2-6). The rest of the team shot just 30 percent (10 of 33) from the field.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Missouri has dismissed quarterback Maty Mauk from the program after a series of missteps.

New coach Barry Odom said Thursday he met with Mauk in December and gave him a fresh start. But Missouri suspended Mauk again this week after a brief video was posted to Twitter. It shows a person appearing to snort a white, powder-like substance and the tweet mentions Mauk by name.

Odom says he believes the video is from “a long time ago,” but it was clear Mauk had violated team rules in recent weeks and that was the reason for the dismissal.

Mauk, a junior, was suspended on Nov. 1 following an incident at a downtown bar not long after returning from a suspension on Sept. 29 for an undisclosed violation of team policy.

Coach Odom released the following statement regarding the decision:

“I met with Maty Mauk this morning and informed him of my decision to permanently dismiss him from the football program. When I met with Maty back in December, I wanted to give him an opportunity for a fresh start, but I also made it very clear what our expectations would be moving forward. After gathering information and speaking with a number of individuals this week, it is clear Maty has failed to live up to those expectations by violating team rules in recent weeks.

As for the video appearing on social media this week, it is concerning, but we believe it is from a long time ago. However, Maty’s failure to live up to expectations in recent weeks was the reason for this decision.

We believe it is in his best interest to focus on his personal life and his academic career at this time. We remain committed to helping him work through the challenges and earn his degree. Our hope is that he will grow from this and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”

— Associated Press —

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Tyler Ulis scored 20 points, Derek Willis added a career-best 18 and No. 20 Kentucky used an early 20-0 run to blow past outmanned Missouri 88-54 on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (16-4, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) had it easy in improving to 9-0 against the Tigers and winning their third straight overall. Kentucky spotted the Tigers an opening layup by Wes Clark before the big spurt that quickly put the game out of reach, twice stretching its lead to 40 points in the second half.

Good shooting was the key again for Kentucky, which made 52 percent from the field after hitting 55 percent against Vanderbilt.

Willis also grabbed 12 rebounds for his second double-double in four games. Isaiah Briscoe had 15 points, Skal Labissiere 12 and Jamal Murray 11 to round out Kentucky’s double-figure scorers.

Clark had 11 points for Missouri (8-12, 1-6 SEC), which sustained its biggest loss this season.

After Saturday’s blowout of Vanderbilt, the Wildcats didn’t want to look past a Tigers squad that challenged No. 10 Texas A&M for more than a half before falling 66-53. That was never a problem as Kentucky came away with the tuneup it wanted before Saturday’s big test at No. 4 Kansas.

The Wildcats outrebounded Missouri 47-28, including a 32-19 advantage on the defensive glass. They forced 15 turnovers that led to 22 points and held the Tigers to 32 percent shooting.

Kentucky also shot 9 of 20 from 3-point range while limiting Missouri to 4 of 14 from behind the arc.

So much for Missouri’s hope of avoiding another drubbing at Rupp Arena after last year’s 49-point rout. That quest didn’t last long as the Wildcats quickly answered Clark’s basket with a blistering surge.

Kentucky’s run included three long-range shots by Willis, who made his third straight start. The Wildcats began 8 of 13 from the field and didn’t cool off much after that in a 54 percent shooting half set up by sharp passing.

Missouri made just 26 percent from the field in the first half, even lower than its 39 percent average in league play coming in. The Tigers were actually better from long range (38 percent) in the half, none of which mattered in a game Kentucky dominated throughout.

TIP-INS

Missouri: Despite the rout, Clark maintained his double-digit scoring average against Kentucky. He averaged 12 points in three previous appearances.

Kentucky: The Wildcats hit nine 3s, their highest total in five games. … Labissiere scored in double figures for the second time in three games.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Mississippi State on Saturday.

Kentucky: Plays at No. 4 Kansas on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

— Associated Press —

The University of Missouri has suspended quarterback Maty Mauk for the third time in four months as a video surfaced late Monday night on Twitter.

The video shows a male who appears to be Mauk bending over a table and snorting a white substance.

Athletics Director Mack Rhoades and football coach Barry Odom released a joint statement shortly after the video went viral: “We are currently gathering information regarding the video in question. This is an issue we take very seriously and one that will not be tolerated within our program. We will take appropriate action once we have all the facts. In the interim, Maty Mauk has been indefinitely suspended from the Mizzou football program.”

Mauk was suspended for four games during the 2015 regular season for violating undisclosed team rules.  He was reinstated and shortly after was suspended for the final four games of the season.

After Odom was hired to replace head coach Gary Pinkel, he reinstated Mauk on December 23rd and cleared him to rejoin team activities.

Mauk, who will be a redshirt senior in 2016, led Missouri to back-to-back SEC East titles in 2013 and 2014 before his suspensions last season.  In 28 career games, he’s completed 52.7 percent of his passes, with 42 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball sophomore righty Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) has been named a Preseason All-American by D1Baseball.com, as announced Monday (Jan. 25). Houck, who was a consensus Freshman All-American a year ago, landed on D1Baseball’s All-America Third Team on Monday. Houck is Mizzou’s first Preseason All-American since Kyle Gibson and Trevor Coleman earned the distinction in 2009. He was also a preseason All-America third team honoree by PerfectGame.com earlier this month.

Houck put together one of the best freshman seasons in Mizzou baseball history. His eight wins are the most by a Tiger freshman since Kyle Gibson (a former first-round draft pick) in 2007 and his 100.2 innings are the most ever by a Tiger freshman under Tim Jamieson. At the end of the regular season, he had thrown more innings than any other freshman in the country. He compiled a 3.49 ERA on the season, striking out 91 batters over 100.2 innings while walking just 12 in 15 starts as a freshman.

Houck was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and was an All-SEC Freshman Team honoree as well. He helped Mizzou defeat three top-five teams – No. 6 South Carolina, No. 4 Florida and No. 1 Texas A&M – earning wins in two of those three starts. Houck spent his summer with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, where he led the team in innings pitched, strikeouts and starts while boasting an 11-1 strikeout-walk ratio and a .159 opponent batting average. He threw 4.0 perfect innings in a combined no-hitter against Cuba as well.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Morgan Stock came off the bench to hit 7 of 9 shots, including four 3-pointers, and scored 18 points, to lead No. 23 Missouri to a 79-64 win over No. 22 Florida on Sunday.

Sophie Cunningham and Juanita Robinson both scored 12 for the Tigers (16-4, 3-4 SEC), who shot 53 percent (26 of 49) with eight 3-pointers to offset 30 turnovers.

Ronni Williams had 14 points and Carlie Needles 12 for the Gators (16-4, 4-3), who shot 38 percent (23 of 60) and had 23 turnovers.

The game was tied after one quarter and the half but after a 3-pointer by Needles put the Gators up 41-40 at 6:23 of the third, the Tigers scored seven straight to take the lead for good. Cunningham put Missouri up with a pair of free throws and Stock’s 3-pointer made it 47-41.

There were 57 fouls and 47 free-throw attempts.

— Associated Press —

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M had trouble getting its offense going in the first half against Missouri on Saturday.

Jalen Jones made sure the Aggies got over those problems after halftime.

Jones scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half to lead No. 10 Texas A&M to a 66-53 victory over Missouri, extending the Aggies’ winning streak to 10 games.

Missouri (8-11, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) led by two points when Jones scored eight straight points to give A&M (17-2, 7-0) a 44-38 lead with about 13 minutes left. Jones started that stretch with his second three-point play of the half and capped it with a 3-pointer. The Tigers missed six straight shots and went 5 minutes without scoring as the Aggies built the lead.

Ryan Rosburg finally broke Missouri’s scoring drought with a dunk with just under 10 minutes left, but Jones made his third three-point play of the half to start a 10-0 run that made it 54-40 with less than 7 minutes remaining and the Tigers didn’t threaten again.

“We just had to settle down,” Jones said. “Coach said there would be games like this where you kind of start off sluggish. We’re a veteran ball club and we just knew that we had to settle down, execute the coach’s game plan and let the game come to us and that’s what we did in the second half.”

The Tigers stuck to a zone defense for most of the game and Jones was able to work around that in the second half.

“We got a little bit, I don’t want to say lazy, but careless in the middle of the zone and they did a good job of finding the hole,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said.

Wes Clark had 12 points for Missouri, which dropped its fourth straight.

Texas A&M’s winning streak is its longest since it won 13 straight from Nov. 26, 2010 to Jan. 15, 2011, and its 7-0 start in the SEC is its best conference start since it also started 7-0 in 1993-94 to begin Southwest Conference play.

Jones struggled in the first half, missing all three of his field goal attempts, and making three free throws. He had no such trouble in the second half when he scored almost half of A&M’s points to fuel the victory.

“He finishes at the rim,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “He took it to the basket hard. He’s so quick and attacks the basket. I can’t say enough about him. He’s playing really well right now.”

The Tigers couldn’t find a rhythm offensively in the second half and went more than 3 1/2 minutes without scoring after the dunk by Rosburg that ended an even longer stretch without scoring.

Danuel House added 17 points and a career-high seven assists for A&M, which hasn’t lost since Dec. 5.

Missouri scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 33-29 lead with 17 1/2 minutes remaining.

The Aggies finally got on the board in the second half with a three-point play by Jones soon after and a jump shot that House made under heavy pressure just before the shot clock expired cut the lead to 35-34 about a minute later.

Namon Wright hit a jump shot near the end of the first half to cut A&M’s lead to 29-25 at halftime.

TIP-INS

Missouri: Rosburg, who had 10 points, fouled out with about 4 1/2 minutes left. … Puryear finished with 11 points and six rebounds. … The Tigers made just 3 of 19 3-point attempts.

Texas A&M: Alex Caruso had five assists and four rebounds. … A&M’s bench outscored Missouri’s 21-5. … Tavario Miller had 10 rebounds.

MISSING THE BIG GUY

Texas A&M freshman center Tyler Davis missed the game with a left foot injury. Kennedy said the Aggies missed the presence of Davis, who has started 16 games this season and is averaging 11.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.

“Any time you’ve got somebody that’s 6-10, 270 that’s got hands like he has and is a force, you miss him,” Kennedy said, adding the injury isn’t serious and that they hope to have him back “real quick.”

WATCHING FROM AFAR

Former Texas A&M star Khris Middleton, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, has kept an eye on the Aggies this season and is proud to see their return to prominence. Middleton played at Texas A&M from 2009-12 and was part of A&M’s last NCAA tournament team in 2011.

“It’s definitely exciting,” he said. “You always want to see your college do great, so to see that they’re in the Top 10 and winning all these games is great.”

UP NEXT

Missouri: Visits No. 23 Kentucky on Wednesday.

Texas A&M: Visits Arkansas on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Chelsea Jennings scored 22 points — one of three Texas A&M players to score 20-plus — and the No. 13 Aggies held off No. 23 Missouri 81-77 in overtime Thursday night.

With under a minute left in overtime, Texas A&M worked the clock down but Courtney Walker missed a jumper. Jennings grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws with 28.8 seconds left for a 78-75 lead.

Jordan Frericks made a nice backdoor cut on an inbound pass and hit the layup to cut it to 78-77 with 27 seconds left. Texas A&M broke the press, and Walker was fouled with 12.1 seconds left and made both free throws for a three-point lead.

Texas A&M opted to foul with five seconds left. Lindsey Cunningham missed both free throws and the Aggies secured the rebound.

Walker and Jordan Jones each scored 20 points for Texas A&M (14-5, 4-2 SEC). Walker made three free throws with eight seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

Frericks led Missouri (15-4, 2-4) with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Cierra Porter added 20 and 10.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Georgia beat Missouri for the second time in two weeks, but it certainly wasn’t deja vu on Wednesday night as the Bulldogs struggled to hold off the Tigers 60-57.

The Bulldogs handled Missouri 77-59 in Athens, Georgia, on Jan. 6, giving the Tigers their first Southeastern Conference loss of the season.

Yante Maten led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He was a force on both ends of the court, shooting 10 of 21 from the field and blocking six shots, which tied a career high.

Both teams traded baskets to start the second half, before Georgia used a 19-3 run to take a 16-point lead with under ten minutes to play.

“We eventually got back to our own rhythm offensively and were able to make a few shots a build a lead,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “We’re at our best when we have multiple guys making plays, and on that run in the second half that’s exactly what we did.”

Missouri clawed its way back with a 21-10 run to end the game. Namon Wright was fouled on a 3-point shot with 17 seconds to play, but converted on just 1 of 3 free throws to make it 58-54. Wright finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

On the ensuing possession, Missouri’s Wes Clark fouled J.J. Frazier, who sank both free throws.

Terrence Phillips capped the scoring with a 3-pointer from the wing as time expired. Phillips finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Frazier had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds while Georgia doubled Missouri’s assists, 14-7.

Neither team separated itself in the first half with the game tied at 22 at halftime. Georgia missed its first seven shots and Missouri jumped out to a 5-0 lead, its largest of the night. The Bulldogs shot 10 of 32 from the field in the first half, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

“I think the game was lost in the first half, to be honest with you,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. “That’s the time we had an opportunity to go get a lead and make them play from behind and we didn’t do that.”

Maten finished the half with nine points and eight rebounds, and tied it on a 3-point play with 16 seconds remaining.

“He’s a big body and a good player,” said Missouri forward Kevin Puryear, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. “I’ve said this before, I like competing against him because he’s going to pull the best out of me. He played really well on both sides of the ball.”

Georgia outrebounded Missouri 43-32, including 12-6 on the offensive glass.

—

TIP-INS

Georgia: The Bulldogs are ranked second in the SEC in field-goal defense, holding opponents to 37.9 percent. … Georgia has won five consecutive games against Missouri, beginning with a 70-64 win in Columbia on Jan. 8, 2014, which snapped a 26-game home winning streak.

Missouri: Tramaine Isabell has scored 38 points over the last four games, after scoring only 12 points in the previous four. … Jakeenan Gant leads the Tigers in blocks with 21 and has blocked a shot in 14 of 18 games. … Kevin Puryear entered the game ranked first in free-throw percentage in SEC play, shooting 90 percent from the line.

UP NEXT

Georgia hosts Arkansas Saturday.

Missouri visits Texas A&M Saturday.

— Associated Press —