COLUMBIA, Mo. – Damarco Minor turned in his first double-double of the season, leading SIUE with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but it came as SIUE men's basketball dropped a 68-50 decision Monday night at Mizzou.

Defense was the name of the game Monday as the Cougars held Missouri to 68 points on just 43 percent shooting. But while the defense was solid, the offense was inconsistent for SIUE.

After trailing by seven (38-31) at halftime, the Cougars struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the second half. SIUE finished 14-49 (29 percent) from the field overall, but landed just three of 24 attempts in the second half. SIUE connected on just one of its first 20 shots in the period.

"We didn't move the ball like we did the first half," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We had a couple of good looks that went in and out. We didn't make the plays for each other like we ultimately needed to."

Brian Taylor II collected his first double-digit scoring game, finishing with 10 points. He was 3-3 at the free throw line. Lamar Wright scored eight points and Ray'Sean Taylor scored seven.

Missouri was paced by Sean East II who scored 20 and Noah Carter who picked up a double-double of his own with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Carter was 4-9 from three-point territory.

Missouri drained 11 of 29 attempts from long range. The Tigers outrebounded the Cougars 36-33 for the game.

SIUE next travels to Mobile, Alabama for the Jaguars Classic. SIUE will face Denver Thursday, Nicholls on Friday and host South Alabama Sunday afternoon. Game time Thursday is 5 p.m.

"When you come into a game like this, it's not about being close or doing some good things," Barone said. "We want to win this game. Those are the expectations that we place on ourselves. We want to win, and we didn't, so now we do what we need to do we do to win the next one."