Following three straight wins, Missouri men’s basketball entered Saturday night with a chance to move solidly onto the right side of the bubble for the first time this calendar year.

The Tigers seem destined to stay on the edge of the NCAA Tournament conversation for now, though, after falling to Texas 85-68 in Columbia.

MU took full advantage of its height and physicality during its winning streak, bullying opponents in the paint and on the boards. The Longhorns flipped the script Saturday, finishing with 40 points in the paint and frustrating Mizzou’s attempts to score down low.

Texas center Matas Vokietaitis played a key role in his team’s success on the interior, using his physicality on the offensive end to draw fouls on the Tigers and force them to pull center Shawn Phillips Jr. for long stretches.

“Matas played 25 minutes. Shawn played 18, and that difference gives you an advantage because of size, ability and things like that,” head coach Dennis Gates said, “We wanted to keep those minutes sort of the same, and Shawn even playing more, but that foul trouble hurt him.”

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Vokietaitis finished the game with a double-double on 19 points, including a 7-of-8 mark from the free throw line, and 10 rebounds.

“He drew seven fouls. That’s guard stats,” Gates said. “He does some great things, and again, initiate contact and be able to now go into the situation where we’re reacting and we’re the ones getting caught on some of the fouls.”

The Tigers’ 68 points against UT was their lowest scoring output since their last loss, a 90-64 defeat to Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and MU’s second-lowest total of SEC play.

Mizzou struggled to generate scoring from the perimeter, putting up just 10 three-point attempts and making four. That lack of outside shooting prevented the team from taking the Longhorns’ defensive focus away from the paint, allowing Sean Miller’s squad to squeeze them on the interior.

The Tigers entered halftime trailing by just two after Tramon Mark converted a three-point play with one second on the clock. But Texas slowly pulled away in the second half as MU’s offense got bogged down and a litany of fouls and video reviews ground the pace of the game to a halt.

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“They’re not the best shot blocking team, but they’re pretty good altering shots with Vokietaitis down there and Swain; some of those guys are just kind of fundamentally sound,” forward Mark Mitchell said, “We probably could have done a better job having some better patience around the rim.”

UT took its first double-digit lead roughly halfway through the final 20 minutes on a jumper by Vokietaitis. The Longhorns maintained a cushion of at least seven points the rest of the way, aided by a second-half offensive surge.

Texas put 52 points on the board after halftime as the team added some makes from outside, hitting 4 of its 8 shots from beyond the arc. 6-foot-8 wing Dailyn Swain led UT with 25 points, including half of the team’s six made triples.

Jordan Pope rounded out the Longhorns’ list of double-digit scorers with 15 points. The trio of Pope, Swain and Vokietaitas combined for nearly 70 percent of UT’s scoring output.

Mitchell and Jayden Stone tied for the Mizzou team lead with 16 points apiece, and Stone also led the Tigers with five rebounds.

Anthony Robinson II hit some late shots to finish with 11 points and went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, getting into double digits for the first time since MU’s conference opener against Florida in early January. The performance was an encouraging sign for Robinson, who was expected to be one of the team’s top contributors but fell into a slump following his strong night against the Gators.

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“He’s done a great job of fighting through that adversity,” Gates said. “I credit his resilience, and obviously he’ll keep fighting. His teammates believe in him, his coaching staff believes in him, I believe in him. And we’re going to keep pushing all our guys to continue to improve.”

The loss moves Mizzou to 17-8 on the season and 7-5 in SEC play.

The Tigers will look to get back in the win column Wednesday against Vanderbilt in Columbia. That game tips off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.