A lot has changed for Marques Warrick since he joined the Missouri Tigers.

After starting every game he played in the past two years, and all but four in the two years before that, Warrick has come off the bench for all 16 of the Tigers’ games this year.

He went from playing more than 30 minutes a game to about 17 and dropped from averaging almost 20 points per game last season at Northern Kentucky to less than 10 this season.

And he went from starting the season as college basketball’s leading scorer to falling back to fourth and 50 points behind the new leader in kansas’ Hunter Dickinson.

It hasn’t been easy.

“I’d be lying if I said it was an easy adjustment,” Warrick said. “It wasn’t at first, obviously, base on my numbers in the past. But you know, I’ve just had a great support system. My family and past coaches, stuff like just teaching me to approach everything as a pro, whether it’s a good situation or not a good situation, I’m going to keep my head up through everything, keep working, just control what I can control.”

But as the Tigers and Warrick hit the midpoint of his final season of college basketball, he’s adjusted to the new role he’s undertaken as not just a spark off the bench, but someone to ignite the Tiger offense at times.

“The one thing I look for is a change in the tempo. Either sometimes we get stagnant or I see some advantages that we can create on both ends of the court,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said of what leads him to sending Warrick into games. “Or even fatigue from our other guys. Being able to put him in the game is important.”

Warrick struggled with the changes early on, playing just 23 minutes through the Tigers’ first three games and scoring nine total points. But a 16-point showing against Mississippi Valley State put the graduate guard back on track as he’s played 20 or more minutes in six of the Tigers’ last 12 games and more than 15 in four more.

And through the transition not just into playing for a major-conference team, but into SEC play, Warrick shined in his role off the bench for the first two games. He scored 19 points in 17 minutes in the Tigers’ SEC opener against Auburn and another 12 against LSU, helping lead Missouri to its first conference win since March, 2023. His performance wasn't great against Vanderbilt, scoring just five points on 2-of-8 shooting, but he is still averaging 12 points per game in SEC play.

And along with all of that, he’s also committing the fewest turnovers-per-minute of his career.

“I can think of a lot of things, honestly,” Warrick said of what’s led to his more controlled play offensively. “Starting from June, honestly, and just being taught, you know, by different coaches now, how I’m supposed to play with physicality on my drives and making good decisions and stuff like that. And obviously not being the main focal point as I was in Northern Kentucky and that’s really helped a lot, taken a lot off my shoulders.”

But with Warrick no longer the main focal point of his team’s offense he’s also got by far his most assists per minute this season, while also shooting career highs of 50.5 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from 3.

“Since the best defenders aren’t guarding me every single play, now I can really make good decisions with the ball,” Warrick said. “Take care of it … and so I’m just, you know, making a lot of good decisions honestly and my teammates are helping me out with that.”

“I was kind of overthinking at first going into the season and how I’m supposed to balance that being in the new situation,” Warrick added about the difference between finding his own shots and finding ones for his teammates. “But coach Gates just told me from Day 1, I’ve got the green light. So that helps a lot, I can shoot, really, whenever I want, whenever I have the chance, whatever is a good shot. So that isn’t a problem at all, being able to find my shot. But also just being here, playing with good teammates around me, everybody can make plays, everybody can make shots.”

As Warrick and the Tigers continue through the remainder of the season, the graduate will continue adjusting to his new role, one vastly different from what he did for the first four years of his college career.

But as is shown from Gates giving him the green light on Day 1, Warrick will continue to have the confidence of his coach and those around him as he sparks the Tiger offense from the bench.

“I think Ques has done a great job,” Gates said. “I just want him to stay aggressive, offensively and defensively and he’s able to do that.”

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