Missouri guard Curt Lewis goes for a shot against South Carolina State’s Caleb McCarty during Wednesday’s NCAA men’s basketball game at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina St. (2-4) | 37 | 22 | 59 |
| Missouri (4-2) | 35 | 47 | 82 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
COLUMBIA, MO — The way their games begin is becoming a disturbing trend for the University of Missouri men’s basketball team.
In its previous two games, Missouri didn’t make many shots at the start and committed some turnovers that kept its offense from getting going. And at the same time, Missouri’s opponents came out firing and took an early lead.
In one of those games, the Tigers were able to come back and win, and in the other they lost — to a team that hadn’t won any games previously.
A similar thing happened at the beginning of Missouri’s game on Wednesday against South Carolina State. The visiting Bulldogs began the game red-hot, while the Tigers started slow again and fell behind by as many as 16 points.
But this time, the Tigers found their stroke, which allowed them to tie the game and eventually storm past the Bulldogs for what would become an 82-59 victory in front of 9,745 fans at Mizzou Arena.
“We only played 30 minutes of basketball. We didn’t play the first ten minutes at all,” Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said. “It’s not okay. It’s not okay at all. I’m not happy about it, nor am I excited about what we had to do to get to the point of winning the game.”
In that first 10 minutes, South Carolina State made nine of its first 13 shots, including four three-pointers, to go ahead 31-15. The visitors from Orangeburg beach, were red hot — shooting an uncharacteristic 61 percent — and clearly had thoughts of an upset in mind.
But that’s when Missouri finally checked in and got going. The Tigers went on an 18-2 run to tie the score at 33.
Then in the second half, with the score tied at 39, Mizzou went on a 22-0 run to roar past South Carolina State and cruise to a 23-point victory.
Freshman guard Anthony Robinson played a key role in that game-clinching run. He made all four shots he took, scored 10 points, and dished an assist for a teammate’s basket. Along with the 10 points, Robinson finished with three rebounds, two assists, and one of Missouri’s team-record 12 blocked shots.
“Just come in and bringing that spark every day,” Robinson said. “Just focusing on the little things and everything will come. Just being out there and being everywhere on the court.”
Three other Mizzou players scored in double figures led by Sean East, who had a game-high 21 points, on eight-of-13 shooting. Nick Honor scored 14 points, which included four three-pointers, and Noah Carter had 13 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore forward Aidan Shaw also provided a spark, with six points — all on thunderous alley-oop dunks — seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
“He’s had two, five-block games in six games,” Gates said. “He has to hang his hat on that, and I’ll continue to push him toward that. There’s only a few people in America who can do that night in and night out, and he’s one of them.”
Mizzou will be back in action on Saturday, when the Tigers (4-2) will host Loyola-Maryland (1-4) in an 11 a.m. game at Mizzou Arena. The game will be broadcast and streamed on SEC Network-Plus.
South Carolina State 59
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | Everett,Davion | * | 25 | 10-13 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 5-2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| 00 | Croskey,Omar | * | 18 | 2-7 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Taylor,Mitchel | * | 24 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 | Jones,Drayton | * | 24 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 01 | Taylor,Atiba | * | 17 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 04 | McCarty,Caleb | 22 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 02 | Simpson,Jordan | 21 | 3-7 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 03 | Teal,Michael | 18 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 11 | Dubinsky,Wilson | 10 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 22 | Marrow,James | 8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 24 | Alston,Shaman | 12 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 42 | James,Dallas | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 05 | Brown,Raquan | 0+ | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 26-55 | 2-10 | 5-8 | 10-16 | 26 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 59 |
Missouri 82
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | East II, Sean | * | 34 | 8-13 | 1-3 | 4-4 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| 10 | Honor, Nick | * | 28 | 5-11 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 35 | Carter, Noah | * | 24 | 4-7 | 0-1 | 5-5 | 2-4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13 |
| 75 | Vanover, Connor | * | 17 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 05 | Tonje, John | * | 7 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Robinson II, Anthony | 17 | 4-4 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| 23 | Shaw, Aidan | 23 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| 02 | Bates, Tamar | 14 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 00 | Butler, Jordan | 8 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 04 | Lewis, Curt | 17 | 1-6 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 31 | Grill, Caleb | 6 | 0-4 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Carralero Martin, Jesus | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 45 | Majak, Mabor | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 31-58 | 9-24 | 11-13 | 12-21 | 33 | 10 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 82 |
2023-24 Mizzou Tigers Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 25, 2023 (Saturday) | 11 a.m. | Home | Loyola | Mizzou Arena |  |
| November 28, 2023 (Tuesday) | 6:30 p.m. | Away | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, Pa. |  |
| December 3, 2023 (Sunday) | 2 p.m. | Home | Wichita State | Mizzou Arena |  |
| December 9, 2023 (Saturday) | 4:15 p.m. | Away | Kansas | Lawrence, Kan. |  |
| December 17, 2023 (Sunday) | 4 p.m. | T-Mobile Center | Seton Hall | Kansas City, Mo. | |
| December 22, 2023 (Friday) | 8 p.m. | Enterprise Center | Illinois | St. Louis, Mo. |  |
| December 30, 2023 (Saturday) | 2 p.m. | Home | Central Arkansas | Mizzou Arena |  |
| January 6, 2024 (Saturday) | Noon | Home | Georgia | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 9, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Away | Kentucky | Lexington, Ky. | |
| January 13, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Home | South Carolina | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 16, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Away | Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | |
| January 20, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | Florida | Mizzou Arena | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| January 23, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Away | Texas A&M | College Station, Texas | |
| January 27, 2024 (Saturday) | Noon CT | Away | South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. | |
| January 31, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Arkansas | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 3, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Away | Vanderbilt | Nashville, Tenn. | |
| February 7, 2024 (Wednesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | Texas A&M | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 10, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Mississippi State | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. | |
| February 20, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Home | Tennessee | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 11 a.m. | Away | Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| February 28, 2024 (Wednesday) | 5:30 p.m. CT | Away | Florida | Gainesville, Fla. | |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Ole Miss | Mizzou Arena | |
| March 5, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | Auburn | Mizzou Arena | |
| March 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | LSU | Baton Rouge, La. | |
| March 13-17, 2024 (Wednesday) | TBA | Bridgestone Arena | SEC Tournament | Nashville, Tenn. |