NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Just over a month back but now seemingly long ago and far away, the Missouri men's basketball team beat Alabama, 68-65, for its sixth win in seven games and another of three wins over a current Associated Press top 10 team.
The victory propelled the Tigers to a top-10 ranking themselves, their first since Dec. 24, 2012. But the trend suggested something more: It implied a degree of faith that this would be the team to snap the streak of NCAA Tournament futility and even conjured visions of something beyond merely the program's first tournament win since 2010.
Maybe some such scenario still looms on the horizon or lies dormant within the identity of this team, prime to be revived or summoned forth somehow yet.
But the burden of proof sure has changed in the last few weeks, punctuated by Mizzou's 70-64 loss to Arkansas in their Southeastern Conference quarterfinal game on Friday at Bridgestone Arena.
The defeat was MU's sixth in its last nine games, leaving it trudging instead of soaring into the NCAA Tournament in the wake of something gone dormant or awry or off-track that may or may not be salvageable.
For his part, Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin pointed to the inherent reset of entering the NCAA Tournament as a way to tap loose the potential that was being realized much of the season before it seemed to fizzle out.
"These are exciting times. Once you hear your name being called, find out who you're playing, new energy, always new energy," he said. "You've seen teams, five, six, seven, eight seeds all of a sudden make a great run. It's just a new energy, refocusing on the task at hand.
"It's probably good to play somebody you haven't seen before. It's basketball. It's exciting times. I think you're able to get rid of a lot of things that you might have thought negative or want to change (or) do better because it's a new season. ...
"We have all the parts. We've just got to be consistent in what we do."
Trouble is, lately they've mostly been consistent with what not to do. That includes the now-signature trait of taking a double-digit lead only to have it set up an unraveling, typically furnished by offensive droughts, defensive lapses and further enabled by key foul trouble.
MU delivered a heaping helping of all of the above on Friday, including Jeremiah Tilmon and Mitchell Smith fouling out as well as a startling number of offensive fouls called against them. According to research by Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MU was whistled for 10 charges among its 21 turnovers and Arkansas five times among its 20.
While Martin noted they were called both ways, he said, "Man, I've never seen that many in a game."
He couldn't say this part, so we will: It seemed an aberration from the way that call is usually administered, and it hampered a MU team that likes to go to the hoop.
Just the same, as Mizzou guard Dru Smith put it, at some point players "have to do a better job of making adjustments to how the game is being called." And the loss was more about MU's inability to stop Arkansas' JD Notae (27 points) and avoid obligatory stretches of offensive incoherence than anything else.
With some stifling defense, Mizzou actually had seized a 23-13 lead. More than 11 minutes into the game, Arkansas had more turnovers (six) and fouls (six) than made baskets (four). But with MU going into an offensive funk and sagging on defense, Arkansas uncorked a 16-0 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Notae to take a 29-23 lead.
The Tigers regrouped enough to take a 33-32 halftime lead and led as late as 9:32 to go in the game on a Kobe Brown dunk that made it 49-47. But between the foul trouble (including the endless flurry of charges they were assessed and Tilmon and Mitchell Smith being limited on the way to fouling out) and the explosiveness of Arkansas, MU faded under a 13-1 Razorback run that made it 60-50 with 5:04 left.
Even with leading scorer Xavier Pinson (14 points) missing the last few minutes after hitting the floor hard on a foul by Arkansas' Justin Smith, the Tigers rallied to cut it to 63-60 on free throws by Brown with 1:49 left. But Notae responded with a jumper, and MU never got back within one possession again.
The loss was more numbing than devastating, of course. Mizzou (16-9) was seeded seventh in the SEC tournament, Arkansas (22-5) second, so this wasn't even necessarily a surprise.
The loss won't keep Mizzou out of NCAA play, and the Tigers did plenty to earn that spot along the way.
Still, it was a squandered opportunity to make a statement and gain back some currency and momentum against a team that MU had beaten earlier this season and taken to overtime in the rematch.
And it reaffirmed what's been bubbling for weeks since they seemingly peaked: that their prospects are less fertile than precarious and, for MU fans, more about hope than faith.
