The Missouri Tigers (11-3, 0-1) still have reason to be optimistic as they enter play in the Southeastern Conference, but Saturday afternoon, they ran into a team good enough to win a National Championship.

The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team opened the Southeastern Conference portion of its 2024-25 schedule with an 84-68 loss to No. 2-ranked Auburn on Saturday afternoon in Auburn, Alabama. Mizzou (11-3, 0-1 SEC) entered the game at Neville Arena seeking its first league victory since beating Tennessee in the SEC Tournament on March 10, 2023.

Missouri men's basketball (11-2) will open Southeastern Conference play against No. 2 Auburn (12-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. Keys to the game include how Mizzou will contain Auburn star Johni Broome, whether MU can force a stingy AU team to turn the ball over and which bench has the more productive outing.