COLUMBIA, Mo. — The chant rained down on Norm Stewart Court, too loud for Kobe Brown to ignore. Standing in the Mizzou Arena tunnel, surrounded by family before his senior day ceremony introduction, the Tigers captain chuckled as the chant engulfed the sold-out building.

“One more year! One more year!”

Brown will formally announce his future plans after the season — the four-year starter has one more year of eligibility — but this day was about guiding the Tigers to unseen places. Like he has all season, Brown embraced that charge and finished the job, powering the Tigers to an 82-77 home finale victory over Mississippi to clinch a double-bye in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

With a fourth straight wins to close the regular season, plus some help from the SEC’s other Tigers, Mizzou (23-8, 11-7 SEC) secured the fourth seed next week in Nashville, the program’s highest seed since joining the conference more than a decade ago.

And whether or not he comes back for a fifth season this fall, Brown sure seemed to soak up the Tigers’ latest conquest on this improbable journey. Nearly an hour after the game ended, Brown was still in uniform on the court visiting with family before walking into the locker room, having perhaps played his final game in Columbia.

“To bring Mizzou basketball back … it was just a fun experience,” Brown said. “I’m happy to be able to graduate from the University of Missouri. It was just a surreal moment.”

Saturday was filled with plenty more as the Tigers celebrated their nine seniors and graduate players, including four others who, like Brown, can return next year if they wish. But it would have been a buzz-kill of a postgame ceremony without first vanquishing the Rebels. It took 18 lead changes, 11 ties and clutch execution in the game’s deciding possessions, but like they have all season, the Tigers mastered the late moments. For the fourth straight game, Mizzou rallied from a second-half deficit and outscored Ole Miss 15-8 in the final five minutes. Under first-year coach Dennis Gates, the Tigers improved to 8-0 in games decided by five points or fewer.

Where exactly do these late-game nerves of steel come from?

“I think we’ve all had it in our blood,” said senior forward Noah Carter, who matched Brown’s team-high 17 points. “We’re not a young team. We’ve all come from good programs. And we have a really good coach that teaches us every day.”

“I definitely would say it comes from just being older,” Brown added. “Understanding the game, understanding situations.”

D’Moi Hodge’s corner 3-pointer with 2:28 left put Mizzou ahead for good, 74-72, and on the Tigers’ next possession, Aidan Shaw pulled down a pivotal offensive rebound on a missed 3, setting up a scoop shot in the lane for DeAndre Gholston with 62 seconds left. Carter, taking advantage of a size matchup all day, seemed to finish off the Rebels with a hook shot and free throw for a 79-74 lead with 30 seconds left, but Ole Miss had one last push. Matthew Murrell’s three-point play with 20 seconds left got the Rebels back within two, but the Tigers sank their free throws down the stretch to clinch another narrow victory.

Against Ole Miss’ smaller lineups, Carter thrived in the low post, bullying his defender in the paint consistently late in the game. Gates credited assistant coach Dickey Nutt for drawing up several late-game plays for Carter and Brown to exploit size mismatches inside.

“I grew up a bigger kid,” Carter said. “So I was always in the post.”

“He’s improved so much that sometimes you get distracted by wanting to show what you’ve gotten better at,” Gates said of the Northern Iowa transfer. “He’s gotten better at his perimeter game through his last five years of playing basketball, something that he wasn’t able to do early on in his young basketball career. But you have to remain consistent and never forget those basic things, those grassroots things that you’ve learned. It’s a gift.”

Midway through Saturday’s game, Auburn defeated Tennessee 79-70, meaning all Mizzou needed was a victory to clinch the double bye in Nashville. Gates said he wasn’t aware of the Auburn score until his postgame radio interview just as the lengthy postgame ceremony got started. Even then, the celebration was subtle.

“I guess that’s a good thing, right, a double bye?” he said. “That’s what you try to play for. But we were playing to win an SEC championship. That’s what our goal was set. So we fell short of our goal. I can tell you that. But the big picture is the next phase of our season begins.”

The Tigers will play Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville against the winner of Thursday’s game between fifth seed Tennessee and the winner of Wednesday’s 12 vs. 13 game matching South Carolina and Ole Miss.

For four Tigers, Saturday’s game was their final send-off at Mizzou Arena: Hodge, DeAndre Gholston, Tre Gomillion and walk-on Ben Sternberg. The other five seniors have remaining eligibility: Brown, Carter and guards Sean East II, Nick Honor and Isiaih Mosley.

Back on the bench for the first time in six games, Mosley didn’t see the floor again but he was part of a touching postgame scene: Without family members to walk Mosley out of the tunnel, Gates, Sternberg and athletics director Desireé Reed-Francois rushed to Mosley’s side during his introduction and escorted him onto the court for his senior day ceremony. Will he back for another year? Those answers will unfold in due time. Now the SEC postseason looms — with the Tigers positioned better then ever before.

Missouri 82, Mississippi 77

MISSISSIPPI

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Allen 28 3-4 0-0 0-5 4 4 7

Brakefield 37 6-8 7-7 2-4 1 3 21

Burns 33 4-7 2-2 5-11 4 3 11

Murrell 39 5-16 3-3 1-4 4 1 14

White 27 7-10 0-1 0-2 0 1 14

Caldwell 15 2-5 2-3 0-1 0 3 6

Fagan 9 0-2 2-2 0-0 1 0 2

McKinnis 8 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 2

Abram 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 200 28-55 16-18 9-29 14 16 77

Percentages: FG .509, FT .889.

3-Point Goals: 5-22, .227 (Brakefield 2-3, Allen 1-1, Burns 1-3, Murrell 1-9, Caldwell 0-2, Fagan 0-2, White 0-2). Team Rebounds: 0.

Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 16 (Brakefield 7, Burns 4, Allen 2, Abram, Caldwell, White). Steals: 8 (Burns 3, Murrell 3, Allen, Brakefield). Technical Fouls: None.

MISSOURI

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Diarra 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Gholston 32 7-13 1-2 0-4 4 1 15

Hodge 31 6-11 1-2 0-2 0 1 14

Honor 28 2-8 2-2 0-0 5 1 7

Ko.Brown 26 5-8 6-6 1-7 1 1 17

Carter 27 7-10 1-1 2-5 3 2 17

East 20 2-3 0-0 0-1 1 3 6

Shaw 18 3-4 0-0 4-5 0 2 6

Gomillion 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 4 0

Totals 200 32-58 11-13 7-24 15 15 82

Percentages: FG .552, FT .846.

3-Point Goals: 7-23, .304 (East 2-3, Carter 2-4, Ko.Brown 1-1, Honor 1-4, Hodge 1-6, Shaw 0-1, Gholston 0-4). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 11 (East 4, Hodge 2, Shaw 2, Carter, Honor, Ko.Brown). Steals: 11 (Hodge 5, Honor 3, East 2, Carter). Technical Fouls: None.

Mississippi 36 41 — 77

Missouri 41 41 — 82