All good things come to an end, but typically those good things don’t come to as hideously ugly an end as they did on Saturday in Columbia. The Longhorns were a perfect 9-0 in conference openers under Rick Barnes and had won nine in a row against the Missouri Tigers, but Mike Anderson’s club destroyed both of those streaks with a convincing 97-84 win in front of 13,085 loud fans at Mizzou Arena.

Texas jumped out to an early lead on the road, riding the hot shooting of Damion James to an eight point advantage with a little less than twelve minutes left in the half. But a flurry of points from reserve Keon Lawrence had the Tigers back on top in less than three minutes. The teams battled back-and-forth the rest of the half, with the Longhorns taking a two-point lead into the break.

The second half was all Mizzou, which was immediately evident when the Tigers hit their first six shots coming out of the locker room. Missouri quickly built a ten-point lead which they never relinquished. Texas kept fighting, slowly chipping away at the deficit, but were constantly thwarted by timely threes from the Tigers.

There were almost no positives to be drawn from this game beyond the play of Damion James. His 27 points and 16 boards were good enough for his eighth double-double of the year. In the first half, he was a scorching 6-of-8 from the field and hit two free throws — something which was a huge struggle for the Longhorns for a fifth straight game.

Coach Barnes had to limit Damion’s minues in the first half thanks to foul trouble, but an interesting incident just before half may have cost him even more playing time. With 3:32 left on the clock, a foul was called inside on Clint Chapman. James was next to the play and the scoreboard charged him with his third foul, although the announcer correctly said that Chapman was the one responsible. During the ensuing media timeout, James was replaced by Justin Mason and sat for the rest of the half.

It’s tough to say whether or not the Texas coaching staff thought he had three fouls, and it’s even more difficult to say that the Longhorns could’ve built up enough of a lead in those three-plus minutes to withstand the Missouri barrage in the second half. But it’s definitely valid to say that the one player who the Tigers didn’t have an answer for could’ve changed the complexion of the game had he been left in.

As for the rest of the team, the picture wasn’t pretty. The Longhorns made only fifty percent of their free throws, finishing a nauseating 11-of-22 from the line. Most shocking of all was the fact that D.J. Augustin was a paltry 3-of-8 from the line, while A.J. Abrams made only 2-of-4. This has suddenly become a recurring theme for this team, and it is going to absolutely kill Texas in the post-season if it continues. If I’m Jeff Capel or Mark Turgeon, I’m licking my chops at the thought of my physical defense sending the Longhorns to the line instead of giving up points in the paint.

While Missouri’s hot shooting from behind the arc was the biggest reason they won on Saturday, Texas certainly helped them out. Sure, there were a few contested threes that Missouri made, but a huge percentage of them were wide open thanks to poor rotation on defense. Late in the first half, the Tigers had a ton of open looks that clanged off. The perimeter defense was just as weak in the second half, while the Mizzou shooters weren’t. And that was the difference in the game.

I’ve been one of the biggest believers in Connor Atchley since last season, perhaps often overlooking flaws and choosing only to point at the flashes of brilliance and potential that occasionally shone through. And early in the year, Connor was validating that faith, scoring 20-plus points in some games, setting great screens, and even playing great defense inside. But since then, he has completely disappeared from the offense and started biting on any head fake thrown his way. If you trace it back, the sudden drop in Atch’s play coincides with the Longhorns’ struggles. Just like the free throw issues, Texas needs Connor to step it up if they want to get back to the level of play they were at in early December.

Gary Johnson was almost a non-factor, aside from a heads-up play setting a (moving) screen for Abrams on a fast break layup. His stat sheet was appropriately bare, as he missed two free throws to go with a rebound and a foul in nineteen minutes of play.

Although he only saw the floor for five minutes, it was five more than I thought I would see Dexter Pittman against the up-tempo Tigers. He actually looked good inside, snagging three offensive rebounds and scoring on a pair of put-backs. He even made both of his free throws, so perhaps he should lead a team meeting on the subject.

Texas has a long week off to prepare for a very weak Colorado team, and they should coast to a home victory against the Buffaloes. But while coaches and players always spout the axiom “one game at a time,” here the matter at hand is much larger than just winning the next one. Texas has some huge issues to address, and the Big 12 is going to be a very bumpy road to travel if they can’t figure things out quickly.