Advertisement
basketball Edit

Mizzou Report Card: Non-Conference

Through its first dozen games of the season, Missouri’s looked impressive in most games and not-so-impressive in one. With the team’s non-conference slate out of the way (excluding the SEC/Big 12 Challenge), PowerMizzou.com is handing out a position-by-position report card.

Here are the grades for the Tigers’ entering SEC play.

Advertisement

GUARDS

Nick Honor has been one of the most consistent presences on the team. The Clemson transfer is up to 10.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting an extremely efficient 50.6% from the field, 46.3% from deep and 82.6% from the free throw line. Having someone as reliable as Honor at the most important position in the sport has helped Mizzou be as successful as it has been.

Sean East II hasn't been as steady as Honor, but oftentimes brings much-needed energy off the bench. There are stretches where he plays out of control, leading East into foul trouble or turnovers or ill-advised shots. He’s also had a rough year from beyond the arc, hitting just four of his 21 tries from outside. But when he plays disciplined — like he did in a 17-5-4 performance against Wichita State, for example — the John A. Logan Community College transfer might be the best point guard on the team. If East plays that way more often, head coach Dennis Gates has hinted he could find his way into the starting lineup.

Kaleb Brown hasn’t played in a month, but won the team’s Defensive Player of the Game award not too long ago. Walk-on Ben Sternberg’s halfcourt shot against Lindenwood counts for something, too. Altogether, the guards have been solid across the board. GRADE: B+

WINGS

D’Moi Hodge has been the Tigers’ top-performing player all season long. The Cleveland State transfer leads Missouri with 16.7 points and 2.8 steals per game and has also knocked down a team-high 39 3-pointers. Hodge had the advantage of being familiar with Gates’ system before arriving in Columbia, but he’s fit his role flawlessly so far this season. The British Virgin Islander is a disruptor on defense, anticipating where the ball is heading and racking up as many deflections as he can. If the team is in transition, Hodge is usually the punctuation mark on a fast break. In halfcourt sets, he’s used as a catch-and-shoot specialist spotting up along the arc, where he’s canned 42.4% of his triples.

DeAndre Gholston has had a down season from distance, hitting 30.6% of his 3s, been has done well in most other aspects of the game. Gholston is one of the team’s best at attacking defenders off the dribble and is starting to find his groove in the offense, posting double-digit points in each of the past three games. His 3-point stroke appears to be improving, too, going 5-9 from deep in the past four games. The Milwaukee transfer was moved out of the starting lineup by Gates two games ago, but he’s remained in his role as a closer for good reason.

We’ll also include Tre Gomillion in this section, though you could realistically make a case to put him in any of the three position groups. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, the Cleveland State transfer has been a versatile tool for head coach Dennis Gates off the bench, using his strength to guard and compete for rebounds against opponents much bigger than him, which recently earned him a spot in the starting lineup. On offense, he’s typically a tertiary ball-handler but has also been utilized as a screener. Like Gholston, though, Gomillion has struggled a bit from the 3-point line, making just 30% of his treys.

Isiaih Mosley hasn’t gotten the opportunity many thought he would when he transferred in from Missouri State, but he hasn’t been bad in his limited minutes. Mosley has mostly lived up to Gates billing him as “the best passer on the team,” averaging 3.0 assists in 16.8 minutes per game — if he dropped dimes at the same rate over a 30-minute span, he’d be averaging 5.4 assists per game, which would be the highest mark on the team. It remains to be seen if Mosley will be a regular part of the Tigers’ rotation this year, but he’s proved he can be impactful if he is.

Overall, the wings have been the best part of the team this year. GRADE: A

FORWARDS

Kobe Brown and Noah Carter are two of the most talented players on the roster, but they haven’t always played like it. Though they’re the second- and third-leading scorers on the team, respectively, the pair have only had two games in which both scored at least 10 points. Brown has made strides as a shooter this year, knocking down 44.4% of his 3s. He showed he was the best player on the court in Thursday’s win over No. 16 Illinois, posting 31 points, eight assists and five rebounds. But he’d had some clunkers in games prior, such as his four-point outing against No. 6 Kansas or his six-point outing against Wichita State. Carter likewise has made a major impact since transferring from Northern Iowa, adding 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds a game but has seen his production decline over the past few weeks and was taken out of the starting lineup. For Mizzou to reach the top half of the SEC standings, the team will need both players at their best.

Ronnie DeGray III didn’t see the floor much early on but has had his minutes increase over the last two weeks, receiving the starting nod in the past two games, and helping the Tigers tremendously on the defensive side of the ball. Aidan Shaw has had a few bright spots as a freshman but hasn’t had a true breakout game yet this year. And Mohamed Diarra’s played just two minutes in the past month.

The group has the potential to be the most exciting on the court. So far, they haven’t played that way. GRADE: B-

Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription

Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair

Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage

Follow our entire staff on Twitter

Everyone on here already has insurance (or they should). Everyone on here also cheers for the Tigers (or they should). In college sports the hot button issue is NIL. A school can no longer compete the way they did just a few short years ago without a robust NIL collective. In our economy, the hot button issue is inflation. Here’s your opportunity to see about saving money on something that the state requires you to have on your car and your lender requires you to have on your house. Oh and by the way, just a quote from James’s office will get a donation on your behalf to Every True Tiger Foundation, one of Mizzou’s NIL initiatives. Blink if you like saving money. Blink twice if you want to do everything you can to position your favorite college program to be as competitive in the SEC as possible. Give James’s office a call at 314-961-4800 or get a quote online at carltoninsurance.net.

“If your insurance costs a leg and an arm, call James Carlton State Farm.”

Advertisement