Mizzou cruises to 82-60 win against Bethune-Cookman
In the final Mizzou matchup against a lower-tier opponent, the Tigers cruised to a win against Bethune-Cookman.
The Tigers jumped ahead early Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena on an Ant Robinson layup. Then took the lead for good on a Mark Mitchell layup with 17:39 left to play in the first half. For the final 37:39, the Tigers led on the way to an 82-60 win.
Throughout the first half, the Tigers continued to extend their lead. From 11-5 to 22-12, then 35-22 and finally 39-25 going into halftime.
“They challenged us the last couple days just to fix some things,” Mitchell said of the Tigers’ staff. “Get back to being disciplined. Get back to our habits and things like that. I think today was, I don’t know if coach would agree, one of our best defensive games from start to finish.”
The Tigers came out of the break on an 8-0 run and built to a 47-25 lead with 18:15 left to play.
Bethune-Cookman fought back to cut the lead to 18 with 17:34 left, but after a Robinson jumper made it 49-29, the lead was at least 20 points the rest of the way, except for a 20-second segment from 10:34 to 10:14 when it was 18 once again before a Shawn Phillips layup.
Two Annor Boateng 3-pointers put the game at 26 points, then a Jacob Crews 3 gave the Tigers their biggest lead of the day at 80-51 with 3:44 left.
Gates put in the young guys for the final few minutes and Bethune-Cookman cut the lead to its fine 22-point margin.
“Bethune-Cookman is a good team,” Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said. “… Being able to almost win a game at Auburn is not an easy task. I thought we neutralized those guys.”
Mizzou’s size advantage
The key throughout the day was the size Mizzou brings to the floor.
Bethune-Cookman didn’t have anyone to match up with any of the Tigers’ 6-8 players, let alone the multiple 7-footers.
The Tigers used that advantage to win the rebounding battle 34-20, the war for points in the paint 50-18 and to shoot 57.6 percent from the field, with a 27-of-40 (67.5 percent) mark inside the 3-point line.
Team defense
Mizzou put together one of its best defensive performances of the season Sunday.
While Bethune-Cookman shot 19-of-45 (42.2 percent) overall and 6-of-12 (50 percent) from the 3-point line, the Tigers forced 16 turnovers, which they turned into 23 points. Mizzou also had seven blocks, tying the team’s high for a game this season.
“I thought our defense stood out when you look at their games throughout the season,” Gates said. “… We saw a lot of guys being able to contribute.”
Postgame press
Here is the full video of Gates, Mitchell and Barrett after the game.
And the video of Bethune-Cookman coach Reggie Theus.
Up next
The Tigers finish off the easy part of their schedule with a record of 10-2.
Now Mizzou will use an eight-day break to prepare to face No. 13 Illinois for the final game of the non-conference schedule. After the game in St. Louis on Dec. 22, the Tigers move into SEC play by hosting defending-champion Florida on Jan. 3.