Takeaways from Missouri Tigers’ basketball loss to Seton Hall at KC’s T-Mobile Center

The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team had not made the two-hour trip west from Columbia to Kansas City since 2019.

Their return wasn’t inspiring.

Seton Hall made mostly light work of Mizzou Sunday afternoon, managing to hold off the Tigers’ late surge and prevail 93-87 in a neutral-site game at T-Mobile Center.

Missouri made life difficult for the Pirates down the stretch, cutting what was once a 19-point lead down to four with 20 seconds to go. But the Tigers could get no closer.

Forward Al-Amir Dawes led Seton Hall with 24 points.

Here are three takeaways from MU’s loss in KC:

Perimeter defense disappears

In a two-point game, the blow landed without much of a challenge.

Seton Hall forward Dre Davis, unguarded on the wing, knocked down an open-as-they-come 3-pointer. Twenty-nine seconds later, Dylan Addae-Wusu followed with an uncontested look from just about where Davis’ footprints would’ve been.

Davis made it 3-for-3 a minute later, this time a step closer to the corner but again without a golden jersey nearby. That gave Seton Hall a 10-point cushion early in the second half.

Dennis Gates had mentioned last week that the Pirates could shoot when required. He wasn’t wrong, but his team also didn’t do much about it.

Seton Hall was already shooting better than 60% from the field before the Pirates started raining open 3s.

Shaheen Holloway’s team, Gates also warned, is at its strongest when it attacks the paint. But Missouri’s perimeter defense was lacking far too often, and the Pirates took advantage by hitting double-digit 3s (10 of 23 to MU’s 12 of 24).

Problems up close

When there was space, Missouri made it count.

Freshman Anthony Robinson II faked a pass to the wing, set himself, then shot and scored from the top of the key.

Tamar Bates was lethal from deep, dropping his first three 3-point attempts. Nick Honor, Sean East II and two other Tigers also ended the game with 3-pointers made.

Seton Hall couldn’t completely shut down MU on the offensive end. The Tigers were 10 of 19 from deep heading into the game’s final four minutes, when they trailed by eight points.

But the Pirates outscored the Tigers by double-digits in the paint. By the time Mizzou mounted a late run, it was too little, too late.

Bates impresses in hometown

Among the few positives from Sunday: The hometown kid.

MU guard Tamar Bates, a Kansas City, Kansas native, who played at Piper High School and then IMG Academy in Florida, had a golden touch beyond the arc.

He knocked down all four of his attempts from 3-point range. And he was involved in all 10 of the Tigers’ opening points, dropping a contested 3 from the wing, then making another from the corner. Then he took a feed from Connor Vanover for a layup in the paint and returned the favor moments later.

Back in his hometown, Bates did a bit of just about everything offensively for the Tigers. Even when the game looked out of reach, MU down 13 with five minutes to play, he sank a corner 3 to at least provide a spark.

Bates finished with a team-high 22 points. The Indiana Hoosiers transfer had 15 points at halftime, going 5-of-8 from the field.

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.