Tigers hold off Loyola (Md.) at home, 78-70 - PowerMizzou: Missouri Tigers Football & Basketball Recruiting

Published Nov 25, 2023

Tigers hold off Loyola (Md.) at home, 78-70

Drew King • PowerMizzou

Basketball Writer

The Tigers’ three-game homestand against mid-major opponents likely didn’t go exactly how Mizzou wanted it to. The team suffered an upset loss to Jackson State on Sunday. It fell behind by 16 in the first half during its matchup with South Carolina State before rallying back for a 23-point victory.

On Saturday, the black and gold had its best start in any of the three games, racing off to a 31-9 lead against Loyola (Md.) through the opening 13 minutes. But the Greyhounds closed out the first half on a 22-4 run and kept the deficit to single digits for most of the second before finally suffering the 78-70 loss.

Dennis Gates was pleased to come away with a win. But Missouri’s disjointed performances has left the head coach wanting.

“I think we're still getting to learn each other. Ultimately, we gotta get more consistency,” Gates said. “And when we become consistent as players, then you can become consistent in (the) rotation.”

The hosts seemed to pick up on Saturday where it left off on Wednesday. Graduate senior point guard Nick Honor said Gates told the players in a film session they needed to stop being “lazy” defending the perimeter and show more energy. The Tigers pestered Loyola’s backcourt, racking up 10 steals and scoring 19 points off turnovers during the first half. Graduate senior forward Noah Carter did a lot of the damage himself, coming up with three steals and leading both teams with 14 points in the period.

The visitors began to tighten up and take better care of the ball, meaning Mizzou had to work harder with its offensive possessions to find good looks. Gates thought his players fell into a Catch-22 — they couldn’t score without forcing a turnover, but Loyola started taking advantage of MU gambling for steals and making the team pay with easy baskets. A 22-point lead suddenly shrank to four going into halftime.

“We did such a great job getting into the passing lanes early, but that same risk made us get out of the passing lane and out of position,” Gates said. “And I want our guys to play aggressive but there's a time to turn the switch on and a time to turn it off.”

It took Missouri a long time to regain its rhythm. The home team would force a miss, but the Greyhounds (1-5) would often collect the offensive rebound and cash in on the putback, negating many of the possessions they lost in the turnover margin. Loyola finished the game with 22 second-chance points, making it a one-possession game multiple times in the second half.

The Tigers never relinquished the lead, though, doing just enough to stay in front. Back-to-back 3-pointers from JUCO guard Curt Lewis and freshman center Jordan Butler gave Mizzou a double-digit cushion with just under 11 minutes to play at 56-46 and the visitors never got back within seven, giving the hosts he 78-70 win.

“I thought our energy dipped a little bit when they started to go on their run,” Carter said. “So playing solid defense and hunkering down and getting defensive rebounds is probably the biggest thing that stopped that.”

Gates knows his players are still building chemistry and it might take a bit longer than last year’s group to start clicking. But he’s been disappointed by the individual consistency of almost everyone. There are very few on the roster who can say they haven’t had a bad game this year.

“Aidan Shaw, 14 minutes, only, what, two rebounds? That's not enough. That's one rebound every seven minutes,” Gates said. “And we gotta have more guys kind of present themselves in a way in game-like situations to make a difference. ‘Zeus’ (Jesus Carralero Martin) hadn't played well. Jordan played decent. Tamar Bates got in foul trouble. Aidan Shaw didn't do well. Curt Lewis gave us a spark. So I think those guys are still playing inconsistent. And we gotta make sure they get more consistent.”

While it was an underwhelming week for the black and gold, Gates still thinks it’ll help the Tigers long-term. The head coach believes they’ve gotten more experience so far this season than they did at this point a year ago.

He wanted it to be more challenging this season. It’s been that way so far, for better and for worse.

“Some people may look at the (opposing) team name. I'm looking at the style of play, the character, the individualized part of the head coach and how he impacts his team,” Gates said. “And that gives us a variety and a diversity in our scheduling. That sets us up to play a different style in the SEC because you have, top to bottom, different coaches, different styles. And I'm appreciative of how our guys are handling it now. I'd rather go through the ups and downs, learn from a win, learn some lessons here and there from the two losses we have. But there's some good film that we can learn from tonight and I'm happy about the victory.”

Robinson continues to make a difference

There may not be a bigger surprise for Missouri this season than the emergence of freshman guard Anthony Robinson II. The four-star recruit from the Class of 2023 has stood out in a positive way in nearly every game he’s appeared in early in his college career. Robinson might’ve had his best game of the year against Loyola on Saturday, posting 10 points, five rebounds, one assist and a game-high five steals.

“The only consistent that I see right now happening is Ant Robinson being able to cement himself as a guy that may be impacting the game, first off the bench, second off the bench,” Gates said.

The rookie helped the Tigers get off to their fiery start, pilfering a steal less than a minute after he was subbed into the game and knocking down a trey at the opposite end. He was also on the floor when the hosts finally began pulling away, coming up with a steal that led to a triple from Honor, giving the team its largest lead of the second half at 59-46. Robinson had a plus/minus of positive-11 in a season-high 22 minutes of playing time.

“Ant Robinson is playing with an abundant amount of confidence,” Gates said. “He's a tremendous player and he's going to continue to get better. He may not think he's played that well — he felt bad because he missed Caleb Grill on that last play. But I would rather him keep that and not turn it over … So I credit Ant Robinson for just being, you know, available every day in practice. He's getting better because of how he practices.”

Up next

Mizzou (5-2) will head back out on the road this week for the ACC/SEC Challenge, taking on Pittsburgh (5-1) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT, the game airing on ESPNU.