The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team fell 66-45 last time out against the Liberty Flames in a game which the team seemed out of sync. However, Tuesday night the Tigers bounced back in a big way with a 72-44 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
The game at Mizzou Arena started off slow, and with six minutes left in the first half, the two teams were tied at 17. After that, Mizzou took full control of the game, outscoring the Panthers 55-27 over the next 26 minutes.
The second half was arguably the most exciting second half of the season for the Tigers. Mizzou was playing quick, fast basketball, taking advantage of good defense and scoring in transition, including monstrous dunks by DaJuan Gordon and Amari Davis. It also included an alley-oop by Trevon Brazile and DaJuan Gordon. These plays energized Mizzou Arena and the team. DaJuan Gordon called these plays “energy boosters” and said, “They bring energy to the arena, to the team, to the bench, and to [head] coach [Cuonzo Martin].”
While the shots still were not falling from deep – they only 2-for-19 from three – Coach Martin was still encouraged by the performance stating, “We are not as gritty as I would like us to be, but we are working toward that. It is not easy, especially when you are not taught to play like that all the time. You can’t let the shot not falling dictate how you play the game.”
The Tigers certainty did not let the poor 3-point shooting dictate the game; they shot 50.9% from the field for the game and an impressive 62.1% in the second half.
Amari Davis led the team in scoring with 15 points, while DaJuan Gordon was right behind him with 14. Kobe Brown had another great game, recording a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers will take on Kansas in the Border War for the first time since Feb. 25, 2012, in a game the Jayhawks won 87-86. Mizzou will need to play the same gritty defense, but be able to make threes at a higher clip than they have this season to pull off the upset.