Mizzou breaks losing streak, but doesn't impress in 85-77 win
The Tigers came into their Thursday matchup with Alabama State at Mizzou Arena needing a win to break a two-game skid.
They got that done with an 85-77 victory.
But when it came to the need to look more impressive than Mizzou had looked the past week, the Tigers came up short.
“Being able to be 9-2 is definitely something that’s exciting for our program,” Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said. “We would like to be undefeated, but understand you’re not going to win every game. So winning the lessons, being able to understand what you need to continue to get better at is great and to see guys step up.”
Coming into the matchup, Gates had talked about needing to get Jacob Crews and Mark Mitchell on the floor more together to create more space with Crews’ gravity around the 3-point line.
Gates got that part done by giving Crews the first start of his Tiger tenure and played 30 minutes for just the second time.
“I just want to be out there and play,” Crews said.
And right off the bat, it looked like a fantastic call.
Crews hit four 3-pointers in the first eight minutes, helping Mizzou break out to a 29-12 lead at the 10:03 mark.
“I thought Jacob Crews, with his first start of the season, was able to come out and give us a spark,” Gates said.
It looked like the Tigers were well on their way to a dominant performance led by a great game from Crews that also allowed more room for Mitchell and Robinson to drive in the paint.
But Alabama State began to chip away. The lead, which sat at 17 points with 10 minutes left before halftime, never reached 20.
Alabama State quickly cut it to 10 and got within single digits with 7:55 left before the break.
The Tigers extended back out to a game-high 18-point lead after a T.O. Barrett layup with 2:04 left that made it 50-32. But the Hornets cut the lead to 52-39 going into the break.
“We got to be able to continue to play for a full 40 minutes,” Gates said. “And we haven’t done that yet this season.”
After the break was no better for the Tigers.
The lead never grew bigger than 15 in the first 8 minutes. Alabama State even cut it back to single digits at 63-54 with 13:14 left. Gates called timeout and finally the Tigers put together a run, building a 72-54 advantage just 4 minutes later.
“Being able to just execute that game plan and stay out of rotation, the zone is what helped on that run, specifically, because we stayed out of rotation,” Gates said. “We were able to be there on shooters versus long closeouts on shooters.”
But Alabama State answered with a run of its own to cut the Mizzou advantage to 72-64 and the Tigers never led by more than 12 the rest of the way.
Not the performance Tiger fans would have hoped for as Mizzou dropped into the 70s in the NET rankings after underperforming once again.
“I can’t wait to have my entire team healthy,” Gates said. “That has been a big part of the guys being able to play a certain way in different coverages. Not having the full roster. Because it’s pieced together like a puzzle. When something’s missing, you know when something’s needed.”
Stats
The Tigers were led by four offensive performances.
Crews totaled 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting overall and 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Through 11 games, Crews has 34 made 3s, right about on pace for the 100 makes Gates called for at the beginning of the season. Crews added four rebounds.
Robinson added 19 points, his second-highest total of the season as the guard got back to attacking the basket.
“I’m really not trying to change anything,” Robinson said. “Just getting back to myself … so just always putting pressure on defense and hunting pain touches. That’s who I am.”
Robinson added four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block.
Mitchell contributed 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with four rebounds and three assists. And Sebastian Mack contributed 10 points as he played 16 points, nearly matching his total time on the court from the past two games combined.
Mizzou shot 33-of-51 (64.7 percent) from the field, 8-of-16 (50 percent) from 3 and 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from the free-throw line. It was the fewest 3-pointers Mizzou attempted in a game since a win against South Dakota on Nov. 20. The Tigers had attempted at least 21 in the past four games.
“I saw the ball movement a lot more,” Gates said. “And a byproduct of that is a rotation, a defense being able to make mistakes, and I think our guys capitalized on the gapes and were able to capitalize on the spacing of guys rotation, rotating, versus just being stand-still defenders. We were able to move bodies and that’s ultimately what creates the spacing.”
Postgame press conferences
Here is the full video of Gates, Robinson and Crews after the game.
And here is the full video of Alabama State coach Tony Madlock.
Up next
Mizzou (9-2) will host Bethune-Cookman at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Tigers will then be off for eight days before going to St. Louis to take on Illinois for Braggin’ Rights on Dec. 22.