COLUMBIA, Mo. — Some of the proprietary, cutting-edge box scores that college basketball programs pay advanced statistics providers thousands for list the time that a game was analytically “over.â€
Whatever the moment was in Missouri’s 111-38 domination of Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night, it must have been early.
The Delta Devils, ranked by KenPom as the nation’s worst Division I program, scored the first bucket of the game to lead for 41 seconds. After that, MU dominated.
In the process, the Tigers tied a program record for the largest margin of victory in a game. The mark, achieved twice before, is 72 points — done previously in a 1995 game against Chicago State and a 1976 game against MacMurray.
Mizzou, able to coast after only a modest amount of pedaling, played 12 scholarship players — all of whom scored. The Tigers scored 1.61 points per possession, shooting 56.9% from the floor and 48.4% from 3-point range while going to the free-throw line 35 times.
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And the numbers, frankly, undermine the degree to which MU breezed through the game while depriving Mississippi Valley State of any room to operate.
“I thought our guys put two halves of basketball together,†coach Dennis Gates said in a rather understated assessment of the result.
Guard Tamar Bates was the first Missouri player to get on the board, hitting an open corner 3 after forward Mark Mitchell secured an offensive rebound.
Mitchell was next to score, making a pair of free throws that he drew while driving to the rim to break up MVSU’s zone defense.
Then came true freshman Annor Boateng’s turn. Making his third consecutive and career start, Boateng played — as you’d expect — more minutes than he had previously. His first bucket of the game came in transition, staying afloat in midair for a twisting lay-in fed by Bates.
Forward Trent Pierce was the first substitute to enter the game, doing so after not appearing in the Tigers’ previous game. He drew a foul on his first offensive possession on the floor and made the ensuing two free throws.
Guard Marques Warrick, the NCAA’s active scoring leader, entered the game early too and poured in some points. He’d played just 21 minutes in Mizzou’s first three games but hit the floor hot, cashing in for a deep 3 promptly upon checking in. Warrick finished as MU’s leading scorer with 16 points.
Marcus Allen, the freshman who has arguably impressed the most through the season’s opening games, got his first field goal of the game to go next. He grabbed a loose ball in the paint and went up at the rim for a physical finish off the glass.
By the time Allen became the sixth Missouri player on the board with less than six minutes elapsed, the Tigers were on a 14-0 run and leading by a round dozen points.
When transfer wing Jacob Crews took the floor for his turn to score, he looked to shoot. He bagged a corner 3 for his first points, which incidentally came with Mizzou playing a man down on offense — Allen was on the other side of the half-court line tying his shoe, yet the Delta Devils still left Crews wide open near the baseline.
Caleb Grill, the guard whose career shooting night saved the day against Eastern Washington earlier in the week, once again came off the bench but hit a 3 for his first points of the night, a make that put the Tigers ahead by 21 points only 11 minutes into the game.
Freshman center Peyton Marshall drew a foul late in the first half and went 1 for 2 at the charity stripe for his entry on the scoresheet.
Mizzou led 51-19 at halftime.
Point guard Anthony Robinson II, who started for the second time this season, found his first field goal in the paint. MU opened the second half with a 15-0 run.
Center Josh Gray was the last of Missouri’s starters to score but made up for that by doing so with an emphatic dunk after Mississippi Valley State’s first bucket of the half. Gray also earned a technical foul for his efforts — which took the form of a pull-up on the rim.
Forward Aidan Shaw, who didn’t get a taste of the action until there were less than 10 minutes to play, shot an open 3-pointer on his first offensive possession to promptly join in on the festivities. His jumper put MU ahead by 59 points.
Crews scored Missouri’s 100th point of the night with just under five minutes remaining.
Time to reset
Mizzou’s has eight days between this game and its next contest, which will see Pacific come to town on Nov. 22. That gap, scheduled intentionally by the MU coaching staff, will allow for a mini reset back on the practice floor.
“The things we have to improve on, when you look at our stat sheet, is a more positive assist-to-turnover ratio, more positive rebounding margin, continue to execute on the free-throw line,†Gates said. “But also, when it comes down to second halves, I think we got to continue to do a better job putting two halves together.â€
It’s also a chance to clear up some lingering health concerns. Point guard Tony Perkins missed Thursday’s game with a leg injury, though a source familiar with his status called it a “precautionary†absence. For the second consecutive game, freshman center Trent Burns warmed up with the team but did not play as he recovers from an illness.
Missouri 111, Mississippi Valley State 39
MVSU
FG FT Reb
Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pt
Hamilton 11 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 0
Stredic 26 2-6 3-4 1-3 0 3 7
Ivory 15 1-1 0-0 0-3 0 1 2
D.Sanders 37 3-13 2-3 1-4 2 2 8
Tate 31 4-9 1-2 0-3 1 3 10
Horton 21 0-4 4-4 0-0 0 3 4
Umoh 15 2-4 0-0 5-7 0 1 4
Sisk 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2
Salery 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 4 0
Moore 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Parker 5 0-3 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Horne 2 0-0 2-2 0-1 0 1 2
Totals 200 13-48 12-15 8-24 3 22 39
Percentages: FG .271, FT .800.
3-Point Goals: 1-10, .100 (Tate 1-5, D.Sanders 0-1, Horton 0-1, Moore 0-1, Parker 0-1, Sisk 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 5 (Salery 3, Hamilton, Umoh).
Turnovers: 22 (D.Sanders 6, Sisk 4, Stredic 4, Tate 3, Horne, Horton, Ivory, Moore, Salery).
Steals: 2 (Hamilton, Tate).
MISSOURI
FG FT Reb
Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pt
Gray 11 1-1 0-0 2-4 1 1 2
Bates 14 6-9 0-0 2-2 2 2 15
Boateng 25 3-7 4-6 2-3 0 1 10
Robinson 13 2-3 1-1 2-5 1 1 5
Mitchell 17 4-7 3-6 1-3 2 1 13
Warrick 27 6-10 0-0 0-2 4 0 16
Crews 21 4-10 0-0 1-3 1 0 11
Grill 18 4-7 5-5 0-2 3 1 15
Allen 14 3-3 4-4 1-4 2 0 10
Marshall 14 0-0 1-4 0-1 2 1 1
Pierce 14 2-5 4-7 0-1 0 1 8
Shaw 9 2-2 0-2 3-6 1 3 5
Brown 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Sanchez 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 37-65 22-35 14-36 20 14 111
Percentages: FG .569, FT .629.
3-Point Goals: 15-31, .484 (Warrick 4-5, Bates 3-4, Crews 3-8, Grill 2-4, Mitchell 2-4, Shaw 1-1, Robinson 0-1, Boateng 0-2, Pierce 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 4 (Marshall 2, Mitchell, Pierce).
Turnovers: 4 (Bates 2, Allen, Brown).
Steals: 15 (Mitchell 5, Robinson 4, Marshall 3, Boateng 2, Pierce).
Technical Fouls: Gray, 15:51 second.
MVSU 19 20 — 39
Missouri 51 60 — 111
