COLUMBIA, Mo. – It’s been a tough week for the Missouri Tigers (8-2) after going 0-2 against road matches vs. Notre Dame and Kansas. The Tigers look to get back on track with a Thursday matchup vs. Alabama State (3-6).
In the first half it was all Jacob Crews and Mark Mitchell as they put up a combined 25 points to propel the Tigers offense to a 52-39 halftime lead.
The Tigers also ended the first half shooting 71%, which was a way better showing than Sunday’s game vs Kansas as they ended the first half only shooting 28%.
The story really shifted in the second half as Alabama State came out firing as they started the half shooting 60% percent. Senior guard Asjon Anderson led the way with 23 points including two logo threes from distance.
Missouri countered the Hornets’ sting with Anthony Robinson’s 12 points and Jacob Crews with eight. Both players finished the game with a combined 39 points and ultimately led the way for a Tigers eight point win over the Hornets.
The Tigers finished the game still shooting 65% from the field and 50% from three, six of those coming from the senior guard Jacob Crews.
Four players ended the night in double digits in a 85-77 win. Those four players consisted of Jacob Crews (20), Anthony Robinson (19), Mark Mitchell (15), and Sebastion Mack (10).
Coach Gates commented after their tight win over Alabama State saying “I thought Jacob Crews with his first start of the season was able to come out and give us a spark, [and] I thought Ant [Anothony] Robinson benefited a little bit more with his aggressiveness.”
Gates was also asked about the recent struggles in their past two road games and responded by saying “We had two tough road games, that does not mean we’re defined by two games,” “What it means is we got to get to the drawing board, pull our big boy pants, and figure out things that hurt us and eliminate them.”
The Tigers improve to 9-2 on the young season and break their two game losing streak and improve to 30-1 vs SWAC opponents, as they take on another SWAC school Bethune-Cookman on Sunday in their last non-conference home game before they take on Illinois in the bragging rights showdown on December 22nd.