Dennis Gates didn’t want to bail his team out.

Missouri couldn’t have played much better defensively in the first half of its season opener against Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles were held to 28.1% shooting from the field and made just one of their 13 attempts from long range while giving up nine turnovers.

USI adjusted in the second half. Gates chose not to, even as the visitors nearly mounted a 20-point comeback in the final five minutes of Monday night’s game.

“I cannot rescue them from situations that's going to teach us,” Gates said. “We have to teach and we have to learn in games. I could have easily, easily gave different looks. I did not want to because I thought, in the long run, we will be able to benefit from it.”

The Tigers still came away with a 97-91 win, but it should’ve been by a wider margin. A pair of free throws from senior guard DeAndre Gholston gave Mizzou an 83-63 lead with just 4:47 remaining. It was the hosts’ largest of the night — the game had seemingly been put to rest.

But the Screaming Eagles suddenly couldn’t miss. They made all of their next seven shots, five of them coming from behind the arc. Despite their struggles from deep in the first half, they’d shot 14-17 in the second half.

“You give credit to them, but I think we just got kind of like lackadaisical,” junior guard Sean East II said. “Once we got that lead, we kind of relaxed a little bit and we need to focus on the details coming out of that last (media timeout) next time.”

Gates said he could’ve switched to a zone or press defense. But he’s got an experienced roster — most players are either juniors or seniors and have been in similar situations. He wanted to see them get themselves out of it. And they did.

It didn’t matter as much to the head coach that they only won by six points. It mattered to him that they won, especially with an announced crowd of 10,723 inside Mizzou Arena.

“I think in moments like this, you gotta allow your team to navigate it and learn and coach themselves,” Gates said. “We have to continue to get better. And my goal is that each game, you'll see a different team. Meaning, a team that's better in every area. Whatever we were weak at (in) this game — and I'll look at the film and analyze it — I hope the next game, as we continue to grow, we solve those situations.”

USI had no answers for Brown, on either end of the court. He had a team-high 20 points on 9-14 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds.

“The sky's the limit for this team,” Brown said “And the more we play, the more we practice, the more we're with each other, the better will be.”

All of Brown’s makes came from the interior. Mizzou as a whole was dominant inside, shooting 28-45 on 2-pointers and scoring 50 points in the paint.

The hiccup for the offense came from outside, where the Tigers shot just 7-28. Brown himself missed both of his 3-point attempts.

Gates didn’t seem too concerned, especially with four other players putting up double-digits.

“Kobe is not always going to be the leading scorer. If it was up to him, he wants to be the leader in assists,” Gates said. “We gotta allow the ball to find the best shot. Noah Carter is not an 0-4 3-point shooter, I can guarantee you that. And I'm excited about the shots we did miss that were wide open because they were assisted shots. That's gonna help us win ball games.”

East didn’t have the best first half. He scored two points and handed out four assists but also committed three fouls and a turnover.

He settled in as the game progressed, though. He posted 10 points in the second half, shooting 3-4 from the field, including a triple, and drawing four fouls, going 3-4 at the free throw line. Though he began the game on the bench, he ended up playing a few seconds more than starting point guard Nick Honor.

“Nothing really (changed),” East said. “(I was) just coming out and playing hard and doing the things Coach asked and helping the team get the dub.”

The senior guard wasn’t a part of the starting lineup in Missouri’s exhibition last week or the season opener on Monday. But he did play extensive minutes in his debut with Mizzou in both matchups.

Mosley had an off shooting night and only added four points against USI. But he had a big impact on defense, where he stole the ball twice and drew two charges.

He finished the game logging 16:13, the majority of his playing time coming in the first half. Gates said he could’ve played Mosley more in the second half, but wanted to see what other players could do down the stretch.

“It was just the rotations and with the guys that were out there,” Gates said. “It's just the rhythm of our team. Our team has depth. And the pace, I am just more so focused on the defensive end. I am not worried about our guys being able to score. But defensively we're going to have to connect ourselves.”

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