COLUMBIA, Mo. – For the first time in nearly a month, No. 11 Auburn tasted defeat Saturday. The Tigers, who were without the services of star freshman Isaac Okoro, saw their seven-game winning streak snapped with an 85-73 road loss at Missouri.
"I thought we played hard," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "Missouri played really well. They were really good offensively. We weren't good defensively. Missouri averages in the high 60s. They scored 85 tonight. That was a real issue for us. We had a hard time guarding them.
"Obviously, Isaac is our best defender. He would've had either [Xavier] Pinson or [Dru] Smith. They both went off for 28. We just didn't get enough from anybody else that can guard."
Okoro didn't make the trip after injuring his hamstring Wednesday night against Alabama. The freshman had started all 24 games coming into Saturday's contest.
Austin Wiley did make the trip to Missouri and was unstoppable yet again on the interior, leading Auburn with a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. It was the 11th double-double of the season for the senior big man, who was coming off an 18-point, 17-rebound performance Wednesday. He now has four double-doubles in his last five games.
Fellow senior J'Von McCormick also hit the 20-point mark Saturday with 21 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field. It's the fourth time this season McCormick has scored 20 or more points and the sixth time in the last eight games that he's scored in double figures.
Backcourt mate Samir Doughty made it eight straight games in double figures with 16 points against Missouri. Doughty, who is averaging 20.1 points per game over his last seven games, did most of his damage at the free throw line where he was 10 of 13. He also added a team-high four assists and three rebounds.
As a team, the Tigers converted 30 of their 46 free-throw attempts. They also shot 71.4 percent from inside the 3-point circle (20 of 28) but made only 1 of 17 shots from beyond the arc.
Auburn freshman Allen Flanigan earned his first collegiate start with Okoro out and matched his career high with six rebounds. He also chipped in five points and two assists.
"I thought Allen Flanigan, getting his first start, did a lot of good things out there," Pearl said. "He didn't score, but he did a lot of good things out there. He competed and he got six rebounds, two assists and one turnover. I thought he did well."
It was just the third loss of the season for Auburn, who moves to 22-3 overall and 9-3 in the SEC. The Tigers are now tied for second in the league standings, one game back of Kentucky.
Auburn will remain on the road next week with a trip to Georgia on Wednesday night. The game, airing on ESPN 2, is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. CT.