Hoops Analysis: What’s behind Tamar Bates’ recent slump for Mizzou?

Ninety seconds into Missouri’s clash with Kentucky, wing Tamar Bates took a handoff from Josh Gray in the slot, sized up Andrew Carr, and coasted past him for a layup

In the roughly two seconds it took for Bates to reach the rim, it was easy to imagine the lefty native capping Senior Day with a crescendo. Instead, more than 33 minutes passed before the Kansas City native added another tally to the scoring column.

In between, he missed a pull-up 3-pointer on a secondary break. A minute later, Bates clanked a spot-up 3 during an in-bounds play. With a little under eight minutes until halftime, he saw a dribble jumper after an empty-side pick-and-roll kick off the heel of the rim. Bates didn’t…