Sean East sinks the game-winning basket in Missouri’s 70-68 win over Minnesota, Thursday night at Williams Arena. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)

NCAA Men’s Basketball12Final
Missouri (3-1)323870
Minnesota (2-1)383068

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Almost nothing was going right for the University of Missouri men’s basketball team in its game Thursday night against the University of Minnesota.

The Tigers weren’t making any shots. They were playing bad defense. They weren’t rebounding. They were committing bad fouls. And one of their key starters had just been ejected.

With 11 minutes to go, Missouri trailed 59-39, and the team looked like it was on its way to what would easily be considered its worst loss of the season.

But then something happened, those same Missouri Tigers that were playing so poorly, closed the game with an incredible 31-9 run and pulled out a dramatic 70-68 win, in front of a stunned crowd of 7,975 at Williams Arena.

“It was a tremendous game between two good teams that fought it out to the very end,” Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates said. “I credit (Minnesota head coach) Ben Johnson and his program. They were tremendously organized (and) had great fight. But our guys battled and kept believing in each other. I’m proud of this team.”

Gates also made a point to mention that he thought one of the keys to Mizzou’s sudden turnaround was the ejection of Caleb Grill. The new Tiger, playing just his fourth game at Missouri, was ejected after picking up two technical fouls with xx left in the second half.

Grill was having a rough shooting night (1-for-6 overall and 0-for-4 on three-pointers) and also had several disputed calls go against him. On the final shot he took, he appeared to get fouled and elbowed in the mid-section by a Minnesota defender.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder fell to the floor and took exception that no call was made, by slapping the floor. The official called a technical foul on him. Then as Grill got up, he bumped into the official, who seemed to think the bump was intentional. It didn’t seem that way, but the official thought it was, so he called a second technical foul and ejected Grill from the game.

“We don’t come back and win that game without that ejection,” Gates said. “I firmly believe that… I credit Caleb Grill, his passion that he plays with, an unbelievable toughness, for making that play that he made. And that was to inspire his team. He did his job and our team rallied behind him.”

And boy, did the Tigers rally.

Senior guard Nick Honor, who finished with 16 points, got things going by scoring 10 straight points, on two three-pointers and two shots in the pain, by himself.

Then, some of the young guys got going. Jordan Butler, Curt Lewis, Trent Pierce, and Anthony Robinson II all made spectacular baskets that helped cut the Tiger deficit to single-digits. A few minutes later, senior Noah Carter blocked a shot, grabbed an offensive rebound, and turned that into a three-point play that made the score 65-59.

“We just had so many guys stepping up,” Honor said. “Everybody wanted to contribute and everybody was. It was fun to see everybody get going at the same time.”

Missouri eventually tied the score at 67, before a free throw by Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia gave the Golden Gophers a 68-67 lead with 16.6 seconds left. The Tigers called timeout to set up their final play.

Mizzou inbounded the ball to point guard Sean East, who took a quick look at the Minnesota defense and saw he had room to his left. So he made a quick move toward the basket, but instead of going all the way to the basket, East stopped and pump faked like he was going to take a shot, which got Minnesota defender Mike Mitchell Jr. to leap into the air.

East drew contact from Mitchell to get a foul call, then floated a tear drop shot into the basket to give Mizzou its first lead of the game. The senior from Louisville then made the free throw to put the Tigers ahead by two with nine seconds left.

“I just told him, ‘we’re giving you the ball, go bring us home’,” Gates said.

And that’s exactly what East did.

Minnesota missed two shots on its final possession and could only watch as the Mizzou players celebrated on the court, following its sensational rally win.

“I’m just glad we got the ‘W’,” East said. “I mean, it was just, we fought so hard back and it’s just good to have a reward at the end. It’s a big time road win. It was our first road game of the season and we just showed who we are. We know we’re a tough, resilient team that just, you know, when things get hard, we don’t complain or cry about it. We just gotta dig down to find out who we are.”

The win moved Missouri’s record to 3-1, while Minnesota suffered its first loss and fell to 2-1 on the year.

The Tigers will be back home and back in action on Sunday, when they’ll host Jackson State (0-5) at Mizzou Arena. That game is scheduled to tip off a 5 p.m., and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

Missouri 70

##PlayerGSMINFG3PTFTORB-DRBREBPFATOBLKSTLPTS
10Honor, Nick*306-124-60-00-111130016
35Carter, Noah*315-102-51-11-562212213
55East II, Sean*334-120-01-11-12131039
05Tonje, John*112-20-00-00-00101004
31Grill, Caleb*171-60-40-02-24440102
02Bates, Tamar152-50-04-50-00210008
14Robinson II, Anthony112-31-20-00-00020015
11Pierce, Trent92-41-20-11-12010005
00Butler, Jordan82-30-10-01-23100014
04Lewis, Curt72-30-10-00-11000014
23Shaw, Aidan180-00-00-00-33201410
75Vanover, Connor70-10-10-00-22000010
13Carralero Martin, Jesus30-20-10-00-00000000
TMTEAM00-00-00-03-14001000
Totals–20028-638-236-89-19281414871070

Minnesota 68

##PlayerGSMINFG3PTFTORB-DRBREBPFATOBLKSTLPTS
03Garcia,Dawson*374-121-27-85-491311116
05Ihnen,Isaiah*274-62-40-01-453011010
00Hawkins,Elijah*272-72-32-20-55164018
01Ola-Joseph,Joshua*224-60-10-01-12121008
04Carrington,Braeden*312-61-41-34-913123116
21Payne,Pharrel135-80-00-02-022013010
02Mitchell Jr.,Mike223-92-70-01-23212008
24Christie,Cam180-40-22-40-33222102
23Fox,Parker30-00-00-00-00000000
TMTEAM00-00-00-02-02001000
Totals–20024-588-2312-1716-28441316167368

2023-24 Mizzou Tigers Men’s Basketball Schedule

DateTimeAtOpponentLocationTV
November 19, 2023 (Sunday)5 p.m.HomeJackson StateMizzou Arena
November 22, 2023 (Wednesday)6 p.m.HomeSouth Carolina StateMizzou Arena
November 25, 2023 (Saturday)11 a.m.HomeLoyolaMizzou Arena
November 28, 2023 (Tuesday)6:30 p.m.AwayPittsburghPittsburgh, Pa.
December 3, 2023 (Sunday)2 p.m.HomeWichita StateMizzou Arena
December 9, 2023 (Saturday)4:15 p.m.AwayKansasLawrence, Kan.
December 17, 2023 (Sunday)4 p.m.T-Mobile CenterSeton HallKansas City, Mo.
December 22, 2023 (Friday)8 p.m.Enterprise CenterIllinoisSt. Louis, Mo.
December 30, 2023 (Saturday)2 p.m.HomeCentral ArkansasMizzou Arena
January 6, 2024 (Saturday)NoonHomeGeorgiaMizzou Arena
January 9, 2024 (Tuesday)6 p.m.AwayKentuckyLexington, Ky.
January 13, 2024 (Saturday)2:30 p.m.HomeSouth CarolinaMizzou Arena
January 16, 2024 (Tuesday)6 p.m.AwayAlabamaTuscaloosa, Ala.
January 20, 2024 (Saturday)TBAHomeFloridaMizzou ArenaESPN or ESPN2
January 23, 2024 (Tuesday)8 p.m.AwayTexas A&MCollege Station, Texas
January 27, 2024 (Saturday)Noon CTAwaySouth CarolinaColumbia, S.C.
January 31, 2024 (Wednesday)7:30 p.m.HomeArkansasMizzou Arena
February 3, 2024 (Saturday)2:30 p.m.AwayVanderbiltNashville, Tenn.
February 7, 2024 (Wednesday)8 p.m.HomeTexas A&MMizzou Arena
February 10, 2024 (Saturday)7:30 p.m.HomeMississippi StateMizzou Arena
February 17, 2024 (Saturday)7:30 p.m.AwayOle MissOxford, Miss.
February 20, 2024 (Tuesday)6 p.m.HomeTennesseeMizzou Arena
February 24, 2024 (Saturday)11 a.m.AwayArkansasFayetteville, Ark.ESPN or ESPN2
February 28, 2024 (Wednesday)5:30 p.m. CTAwayFloridaGainesville, Fla.
March 2, 2024 (Saturday)7:30 p.m.HomeOle MissMizzou Arena
March 5, 2024 (Tuesday)8 p.m.HomeAuburnMizzou Arena
March 9, 2024 (Saturday)7:30 p.m.AwayLSUBaton Rouge, La.
March 13-17, 2024 (Wednesday)TBABridgestone ArenaSEC TournamentNashville, Tenn.