COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Tigers continued their ten-game homestand in dominating fashion, dismantling Mississippi Valley State 111-39, and tying the program record for the largest margin of victory with a 72-point difference.
Before Thursday’s matchup, Missouri had yet to show a performance worthy of appraisal. After a season-opening loss to Memphis, in which they gave up a ten-point lead, and back-to-back contested wins against Howard and Eastern Washington, fans and media alike were looking for a team where Missouri could show what it had to offer.
Mississippi Valley State would provide the answer. The Delta Devils, KenPom’s lowest-ranked division one basketball program in the country, would allow Missouri to put on a show, and provide Dennis Gates with valuable time to work out who on his roster would get the majority of minutes going forward.
At 19:08 in the first half, MVSU’s Alvin Stredic scored the night’s first points, off a mid-range jumper from a Missouri turnover. After that, the Delta Devils would never have a chance to take back the lead.
Using its overwhelming size advantage, Missouri forced numerous turnovers, leading to open-shot attempts all night. The Tigers got out to a 12-point lead before MVSU found the basket again, from free throws courtesy of a personal foul from Missouri’s Peyton Marshall.
By the end of the first half, Missouri would be up 51-19. Marques Warrick would be the major contributor, going 3-3 on three-point attempts, with the addition of an extra field goal late. However, 11 of Missouri’s 14 players in action would get minutes, showing that Dennis Gates wanted to see every permutation of a five-man lineup out on the court.
That trend would continue throughout the second half. As Missouri players would swap in and out, all MVSU could do was watch as the Tigers would run roughshod over their small roster. Even with 6’9” center Daniel Umoh tripling his minutes played in the second half, the Delta Devils simply had no competitive chance.
Eventually, Missouri would begin to showboat for the crowd, with an impressive dunking display from Mark Mitchell, Josh Gray, Caleb Grill and Annor Boateng. The shots behind the arc wouldn’t stop falling either, as the Tigers would add six more three-pointers in the second half.
With 1:33 left in the game, and the lead up to 76 points, Dennis Gates seemed content. Sending JV Brown and Jeremy Sanchez out to get some rare minutes, Gates would end the impressive offensive display. MVSU would end its dismal visit to Missouri with a moral victory, denying the Tiger’s program history with four straight free throws, to end the night only down by 72 points.
On the stat sheet, Missouri was as dominant as a team could be. 37-65 on field goals, 15-30 on three-point attempts and out-rebounded MVSU 42 to 28. They forced the Delta Devils to turn over the ball 23 times and scored more points off turnovers (45) and in the paint (44), then MVSU had the whole game.
Now it remains to be seen what this win will do for Missouri. The Tigers have much tougher opponents ahead, and Dennis Gates still has to figure out who will get the majority of minutes going forward. After 14 players saw action Thursday night, 11 of whom with double-digit minutes, that remains a question mark for this team.
Despite that Missouri now sits at 3-1, with a reinvigorated fervor from fans over what this team is capable of.
Missouri returns to action Friday, Nov. 22, when it takes on Pacific at home.