Tigers tied with Texas Tech at halftime
Missouri junior guard J.T. Tiller tries to catch his balance after being fouled in the first half of Thursday's game against Texas Tech at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. The Tigers and Red Raiders were tied 31-31 at the half.
This season, Missouri stumbling out of the gate in the first half away from Mizzou Arena has been a recipe for disaster. The No. 3 Tigers struggled mightily in the first half but enter halftime tied with No. 11 Texas Tech, 31-31.
Missouri was making a point to be aggressive on the offensive end of the floor and not settle for jump shots, like they did in road losses to Kansas and Texas A&M. The result was 12 Texas Tech fouls. However, Missouri's free throw shooting -- the team's achilles heel early in the season -- has been inconsistent tonight, as the Tigers went 6-for-12 (50 percent) at the line.
Nick Okorie leads Texas Tech with eight points, and Mike Singletary (a.k.a. America's new sweetheart) has seven.
A Missouri win would leave the Tigers as the highest remaining seed in the tournament. In addition, it would allow the Tigers to avoid the upset bug that's been going around higher-seeded teams in Oklahoma City today. The lower-seeded team has won all three of the day's previous games.
