With two weeks left to strengthen their NCAA Tournament seeding, the Missouri Tigers had gone all season without suffering the kind of ugly loss that could damage their postseason credentials.
That almost changed Wednesday night.
In the penultimate game of the regular season, the Tigers overcame a lifeless first half at Louisiana State then stormed back from a 19-point deficit to stun lowly LSU 81-76 at Maravich Assembly Center. Mizzou (22-8, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) didn’t take its first lead until 97 seconds were left in the game but with the victory stayed alive for a top-four seed in next week’s SEC tournament in Nashville.