Tigers shake off jitters in 89-61 exhibition win over Wash. U
Missouri came away with an 89-61 victory over Wash. U on Thursday inside Mizzou Arena, though it wasn’t all that smooth for the Tigers.
That was almost by design. Head coach Dennis Gates, who said on Wednesday he had seven or eight players who could be in the starting lineup on any given night, didn’t decide on his first five until just before tip-off on Thursday. He settled on senior guards Nick Honor, DeAndre Gholston and D’Moi Hodge, and senior forwards Noah Carter and Kobe Brown because “that five did not practice this entire week together.”
He intentionally pulled players who were in rhythm during the game to see how fast they’d get back into the swing of things when he put them back in. Gates made 39 total substitutions throughout the night.
Mizzou also had some jitters to work through. For a dozen players, Thursday was their first night suiting up for the team in front of a crowd. Brown said freshman forward Aidan Shaw had his uniform on and shoes tied two and a half hours before the game.
“It was before the (pregame) clock even started ticking,” Brown said.
It led to a clunky start for the Tigers. By the first media timeout, Missouri had four turnovers in under five minutes, with the score tied at 7-7. The team never led by more than six points throughout the first quarter of the game.
The Bears tended to swarm the paint on defense, allowing a few open looks for the home team outside. But Mizzou couldn’t make them pay for it, shooting just 5-18 from deep on the night.
“What I learned is we're a better shooting team than our percentage showed today,” Gates said. “We had a lot of in-and-out 3s.”
Brown pushed his team out of the rut late in the first half, showing why he was voted to the Preseason All-SEC First Team this week. Hodge came up with a steal just before the 7-minute mark and pushed the ball ahead to Brown, who punctuated the fast break with a slam dunk. The Tigers got it to him in transition again on the next possession for another layup.
A minute later, Brown sank an and-1 basket and free throw to give Mizzou its biggest lead of the night at 31-23. Gates subbed him out soon after, his stat line reading 14 points and seven boards at the end of the first half.
Brown, who gained weight in the offseason by putting on muscle, said he noticed a difference in the game.
“I feel like it's letting me move a lot quicker, a lot faster,” Brown said. “I'm getting more rebounds, you know, I'm able to move guys, literally, to get to boards and just get the advantage on my opponent.”
The hosts went into halftime up 45-30. But Missouri stumbled out of the gates again in the second half. With 9:15 remaining in the game, Wash. U had cut the deficit to single digits, trailing 61-52.
This time, it was Hodge’s turn to lead his team back to safety. Gholston scooped in a layup to push the lead back to 11 and the Tigers earned a stop at the other end. After receiving the outlet passed, Honor stepped on the gas in transition and found Hodge open on the right wing, who knocked it down for his first triple of the night. Honor missed a layup on the next trip down, but Hodge got the offensive rebound and fired from the same spot for another trey.
Brown scored from the paint in each of the team’s next four possessions, putting Mizzou back up 78-57. The hosts cruised the rest of the way, claiming the 89-61 win.
Brown posted a double-double with a team-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. Hodge led the Tigers with three 3-pointers, ending the night with nine points. Senior guard Isiaih Mosley, one of Gates’ high-profile transfers, didn’t start the game but did play 21 minutes and was the only other player in double-digits for Missouri with 11 points while adding a team-best four assists.
Mizzou officially begins the season on Monday, hosting Southern Indiana at 7 p.m. Gates said he wants to see the team improve its connectivity.
“I think when you look at what we tried to do, we just tried to play as well as we could and together,” Gates said. “And I thought we accomplished that goal.”
On the bench
Junior forwards Mohamed Diarra and Ronnie DeGray III were not subbed in during the first half of Thursday night’s game. Diarra played 2:10 in the second half, scoring two points, securing one rebound and committing one turnover. DeGray was the only player on the roster who did not enter the game.
Gates said everyone on the team is healthy — immediately knocking on wood afterward. He said it was his decision not to play DeGray.
“I just decided to go with certain guys. That's all,” Gates said.
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