Missouri Tigers vs. Oregon State: Tipoff time, TV, projected lineups and a prediction
When/where: Sunday 4:30 p.m. at Sports and Fitness Center, University of the Virgin Islands
TV/radio: FloHoops.com; KMBZ (98.1 FM)
Projected Lineups:
P | No. | Missouri | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
G | 13 | Mark Smith | 6-4 | So. | 13.7 |
G | 15 | Jordan Geist | 6-2 | Sr. | 6.3 |
F | 4 | Javon Pickett | 6-4 | Fr. | 5 |
F | 24 | Kevin Puryear | 6-7 | Sr. | 9.7 |
C | 23 | Jeremiah Tilmon | 6-10 | So. | 11 |
P | No. | Oregon State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
G | 1 | Stephen Thompson Jr. | 6-4 | Sr. | 17 |
G | 5 | Ethan Thompson | 6-5 | So. | 10.3 |
F | 4 | Alfred Hollins | 6-6 | So. | 6 |
F | 3 | Tres Tinkle | 6-8 | Jr. | 20 |
C | 23 | Gligorije Rakocevic | 6-11 | Jr. | 9.3 |
About Missouri (2-1): After barely beating Kennesaw State on Friday, Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said after the game that freshmen Christian Guess and Parker Braun, a Blue Valley Northwest graduate, could both start playing to try and solve the team’s offensive troubles. Jeremiah Tilmon had an encouraging 12 points and nine rebounds against the Owls, but MU got little out of its freshmen. Walk-on Ronnie Suggs was a rotation player for MU and saw time at point guard. Kevin Puryear had a strong performance against Kennesaw State with 17 points and six rebounds, but MU needs that regularly given its lack of proven scorers. In his three seasons at California, Martin was 6-1 against the Beavers.
About Oregon State (3-0): The Beavers have started the season off hot, thanks to junior Tres Tinkle, who is averaging 20 and 10 through his first three games. Oregon State took a Mizzou-like approach when it hired Wayne Tinkle a few years ago, hiring assistant Stephen Thompson, whose sons Stephen Jr. and Ethan are now staples in the Beavers’ backcourt. The Beavers have enough scorers to keep MU occupied on defense, but can the Tigers be able to hang with Oregon State offensively?
Prediction: Oregon State 70, Missouri 59: The Beavers have too much offense right now and MU has too little for the Tigers to make a game out of this. Christian Guess scores 10 points in his college debut, and Puryear’s scoring continues but the Beavers deprive MU of playing in the title game on Monday.
Alex Schiffer
Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.
