Basketball loses in OT

By Ryan Huber

Published Feb. 27, 2007

The Tigers fell to 6-8 in the Big 12 and 19-10 overall with an 82-77 overtime loss to Nebraska on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. It was the second time MU has fallen to the Cornhuskers, who sit at the ninth spot in the Big 12 at 5-8.

"I thought we played well, especially in the first half, and we had every opportunity to win the game," coach Mike Anderson said. "It's tough to win on the road, and when you have those opportunities you have to grasp them and we didn't. Some things we really need to work on, like putting people on the free throw line when we are ahead going down the stretch. I thought that really came back to bite us."

Having rattled off three wins including a 75-64 victory at Oklahoma State, the Tigers could have used a victory in Lincoln before finishing up their home schedule against Colorado at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

"The wins, they end at midnight," Anderson said about celebrating victories. "The losses hurt a little bit longer, but you've got to move on. We played well enough to win, but we didn't finish the deal. Hopefully, we can learn from it and move on."

Nebraska junior center Aleks Maric had a career day against the Tigers, splashing home 31 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. He made six free throws in the closing minute of overtime including two that iced the game with one second remaining.

"Earlier in a season, we probably wouldn't have even got to overtime, so I think that shows the growth of our team," sophomore forward Matt Lawrence said.

Missouri had three chances from 3-point land to tie the game in the closing seconds but missed on all three, eventually fouling Maric on the rebound.

Junior guard Stefhon Hannah led MU with 17 points. Junior forward Darryl Butterfield finished with 13 points and sophomore forward Matt Lawrence had 11. Freshman guard Keon Lawrence and junior forward Marshall Brown each scored 10.

"We didn't play as tough as we could have towards the end," Keon Lawrence said. "I didn't play well. We needed some plays coming down the stretch, and we didn't make them."

Matt Lawrence, who has struggled with consistency recently, went perfect from beyond the arc with three 3-pointers.

Missouri heads back home against Colorado for its final regular season home game and NIT-bid pending, its last home game of the season.