Mizzou Tigers take care of SIU Edwardsville in basketball. Here are Monday’s takeaways
If Monday’s mission was to right the ship, Missouri managed that comfortably.
The Mizzou men’s basketball team defeated SIU Edwardsville 68-49 on Monday evening at Mizzou Arena, bouncing back from a double-digit loss to Memphis over the weekend.
Here are three takeaways as the Tigers got back to their winning ways:
Second-half surge
Caleb Grill hadn’t taken a shot in the first half, but he didn’t waste time in the second.
The Iowa State transfer from Wichita hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Tigers more than enough breathing room than the seven-point lead they took into the break.
And his team followed suit.
Missouri’s defense held SIUE to three made shots from the field over the course of the second half. The visitors missed 21 shots and went nearly 17 minutes without a field goal.
The Tigers simply clamped down on the Cougars.
And as SIUE looked more and more beaten and bruised, MU steadily added to its lead without ever setting Norm Stewart Court ablaze.
Tamar Bates knocked down a corner 3 to give MU a 20-point lead with seven minutes remaining. Earlier, Aidan Shaw made a layup on the back of his own offensive rebound before later crashing home a highlight-reel dunk off a lob pass from Bates.
Offense still meshing
Noah Carter broke out of one funk, Sean East II another.
In the first half, like Friday’s game, those were the rarities.
Shortly before the midway point of the first half, Carter dug Missouri out of a three-point hole by drilling a trio of 3-pointers. When SIUE managed to tie the game up at 21 between the under-8 and under-4 timeouts, East went on a personal nine-point streak, outscoring the visitors by seven to help the Tigers take a 38-31 lead into halftime.
The fast-paced, fluid-looking offense Missouri made its staple last season stagnated plenty during the first half. There were turnovers off loose passes and shot-clock violations. There was a more-than four-minute stretch without a made field goal against the overmatched opposition.
East and Carter’s runs were the stuff MU was unable to conjure Friday as the Tigers slumped and slogged their way to an uninspiring loss to Memphis.
The Tigers righted plenty of wrongs after the break, but they also showed flashes of the struggles that caused their early-season defeat.
MU finished with 43.4% shooting from the field on Monday.
In Robinson the Tigers trust
Anthony Robinson picked up an offensive rebound meant for someone far larger than his 6-foot-2 frame.
He assisted East with a defense-piercing pass that broke a frustrating period of Missouri possessions. He drove to the basket and got to the line more than any other MU player. He then converted 5 of his 6 free throws.
In his first few collegiate games, the moment hasn’t seemed too big for the freshman from Tallahassee, Florida. Robinson played about half of the game for the Tigers, and the speedy point guard notched five points and five assists in the process.
Gates put plenty of trust in his young guard Monday, and the timing on that might be ideal.
One of the few negatives for Missouri: point guard Nick Honor left the game with what appeared to be an injured hand during the second half and did not return.
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