Missouri basketball missed a huge opportunity on Wednesday night. Facing a key Southeastern Conference rival in Arkansas, which had its own struggles, the Tigers failed to sustain any momentum at Mizzou Arena.

The result: a 91-84 loss.

The Tigers (8-13, 0-8) dropped their eighth straight game, keeping them at the bottom of the SEC. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks (11-10, 2-6) picked up another victory in Columbia as Makhi Mitchell and Tramon Mark combined for 41 points.

For Missouri, Tamar Bates once again delighted the crowd with a team-high 29 points, but outside of the junior, no other Tiger tallied more than 11.

Here's three takeaways from the Tigers' defeat.

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Another poor shooting performance can't keep pace with Arkansas

It wasn’t a clean day shooting for the Tigers.

Only Bates and Connor Vanover finished with efficient numbers from the field. Bates was 9-for-18 while Vanover was 3-for-5 for seven points, but the rest of the team struggled.

Missouri shot just 46% from the field, 32.1% in the first half. It couldn’t keep pace with Arkansas, which finished with an efficient 54.1% from the field. Sean East II, the Tigers leading scorer this season, finished 3-for-8, while Noah Carter and Nick Honor knocked down a combined four field goals.

Missouri's mistakes add salt to the wound

The past three games have not been Dennis Gates’ brand of basketball.

Mizzou prides itself on a positive assist-to-turnover each time it steps onto the floor. Against Arkansas, the Tigers turned the ball over 18 times compared to the Razorbacks' 14. What made matters worse is the fact that the Razorbacks turned Missouri’s mistakes into a positive output as they scored 25 points off of Tigers turnovers; thirteen came in the first half, which allowed the Razorbacks build a 19-point lead going into the break.

This marks the third straight game in which MU has turned the ball over at least 10 times. The Tigers committed 12 against South Carolina and 15 at Texas A&M.

Missouri fails to defend inside the arc

A key component to the Razorbacks' efficiency from the field was their ability to score in the paint. The Razorbacks knocked down just four 3-pointers, yet scored their most points in a month. Missouri's defense had no answer for Arkansas in the paint. The Razorbacks tallied 56 paint points, including nine dunks.

What's next

Missouri heads back onto the road for the third time in the previous four games. The Tigers play at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Vanderbilt on the SEC Network.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball suffers demoralizing loss to Arkansas