Mizzou’s Sean East goes for a layup against Wichita State’s xxx during Sunday’s NCAA men’s basketball game at Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita State (7-2) | 34 | 38 | 72 |
| Missouri (7-2) | 41 | 41 | 82 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri men’s basketball team led start to finish in an entertaining non-conference game against Wichita State, Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.
The Tigers began the game with a 10-0 run and never trailed at any point, in what proved to be an 82-72 win for the home team, in front of a near-sold out crowd of 10,885.
“I thought we shot out of a cannon, so to speak, and we were able to do that defensively,” Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said. ““Credit to Wichita State. They kept battling, making runs throughout the game,” Gates said. “But every time there was a run, I thought our players responded with a big-time play.”
Mizzou led by as many as 11 points in the second half and the game never got closer than two points. And that was entirely due to the Tigers not yielding when the Shockers made a run to get back into the game.
After falling behind by 10 to start, Wichita State responded by scoring seven straight points to make the score 10-6. But Mizzou answered by scoring the next five points to go back up by eight.
The entire game went that way, with both clubs making runs, but Mizzou never giving up the lead.
The key stretch in the game came with just under five minutes left, following a Connor Vanover dunk that gave Mizzou a nine-point lead. Wichita State responded by scoring seven straight points to make the score 68-66.
But the Tigers didn’t panic. Caleb Grill hit a three-pointer for Mizzou, then after Xavier Bell made an open jumper for the Shockers, Sean East hit a three for the Tigers that put Mizzou up six.
Wichita State never got closer than that the rest of the way. In fact, the Shockers only made one more shot the rest of the game.
East hit four free throws and teammate Nick Honor made a short jumper and knocked down a pair of free throws of his own to put the game away.
“That’s a good solid victory for us,” Gates said. “There’ll be some stuff we need to work on. We don’t rebound real well today at all. That’s something to work on. But overall, I thought we played pretty well. Our defense went after them and caused them trouble most of the day. We’ve got to do more of that.”
East led Mizzou with 22 points and nine assists. His 22 points are his most in the Mizzou Black & Gold, while also marking his fifth 20-point game of the season. Additionally, his nine assists match his career high, first achieved while at UMass in 2019.
Honor and Vanover put up 15 and 11 points of their own. Grill added his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Shockers.
The win was Missouri’s fourth in a row and lifted the Tigers’ record to 7-2 on the year.
Mizzou will have the work week off, but will be back in action with perhaps its toughest non-conference game of the season, when it travels to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the No. 5-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. That game is slated to tip off at 4:15 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Wichita State 72
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 | Rogers,Colby | * | 31 | 6-14 | 3-7 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 20 | Beverly,Harlond | * | 38 | 5-13 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 4-13 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 01 | Bell,Xavier | * | 35 | 4-12 | 1-5 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 15 | Ballard,Quincy | * | 24 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 4-4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 | Pohto,Kenny | * | 32 | 2-9 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 3-1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 05 | Abidde,Isaac | 17 | 3-6 | 2-4 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| 10 | Ridgnal,Dalen | 23 | 3-11 | 0-4 | 1-1 | 3-6 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 26-68 | 8-28 | 12-13 | 18-30 | 48 | 20 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 6 | 72 |
Missouri 82
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | East II, Sean | * | 36 | 6-13 | 3-4 | 7-8 | 0-4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| 10 | Honor, Nick | * | 30 | 5-12 | 3-8 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 35 | Carter, Noah | * | 29 | 1-9 | 1-6 | 6-7 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 02 | Bates, Tamar | * | 15 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 23 | Shaw, Aidan | * | 13 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Grill, Caleb | 25 | 4-8 | 3-6 | 2-2 | 1-9 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| 75 | Vanover, Connor | 16 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 4-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | |
| 14 | Robinson II, Anthony | 14 | 2-5 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 00 | Butler, Jordan | 10 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 11 | Pierce, Trent | 6 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 45 | Majak, Mabor | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 04 | Lewis, Curt | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 24-60 | 11-33 | 23-25 | 7-25 | 32 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 82 |
2023-24 Mizzou Tigers Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 9, 2023 (Saturday) | 4:15 p.m. | Away | #5 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 | #24 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 | #12 Kentucky | Lexington, Ky. | |
| January 13, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Home | South Carolina | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 16, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Away | #23 Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | |
| January 20, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | Florida | Mizzou Arena | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| January 23, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Away | #14 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 | #14 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 | #10 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. |