Second-half defense, dynamic offense spark Mizzou basketball to blowout win over MVSU
There’s been no question about the strength of the Missouri offense to start the year. The Tigers have crossed the 80-point mark in every game thus far, including Sunday evening’s 83-62 win against an overmatched Mississippi Valley State squad inside Mizzou Arena.
When the Tigers turn up the defensive pressure? That’s when they hit a different gear.
The Tigers used a 17-0 run — holding Mississippi Valley State scoreless for 7 minutes and 19 seconds — to break open Sunday’s game. The run came in an early-second-half stretch in which the Tigers responded to the Delta Devils cutting the deficit to two by outscoring their opponent 28-6 over the ensuing 10-and-a-half minutes.
Perhaps the most visible part of that defensive effort: After Mississippi Valley State guard Terry Collins scorched the Tigers for 22 first-half points, he didn’t score in the second half until the 4:38 mark — when the game was well out of reach.
Senior guards D’Moi Hodge and Isiaih Mosley led the way with 18 points apiece for the Tigers. Senior guard Nick Honor added 10 points and six assists, while freshman forward Aidan Shaw posted seven points and six rebounds. Missouri improved to 5-0 with the win.
Two different halves for Mizzou basketball
Those who turned the game on for the second half saw a much different effort than the first 20 minutes. Missouri led by eight, 22-14, around five minutes into the game, but the score remained much closer throughout the first period.
Early on, Missouri’s three-point shooting helped it stay in front. The Tigers made six of their first 11 attempts from three-point range, including three makes from Hodge in that time. Hodge finished the game shooting 4 of 9 from three.
However, the shooting went cold shortly after. The Tigers made just one three-pointer on eight attempts to close out the first half, which allowed Mississippi Valley State to trim the halftime deficit to three, 40-37.
The Tigers were hardly in trouble, though, against an opponent that entered at 1-4 (now 1-5) and as a 34-point underdog. Prior to facing Missouri, Mississippi Valley State had losses of 64 points at top-10 Baylor and 29 points against Yale. The Delta Devils entered the day ranked No. 359 on offense, No. 355 on defense and No. 362 overall (out of 363 teams) on KenPom.com.
What the Delta Devils did do well: They played zone, which bogged down a typically fast-paced Missouri offense. The Tigers were able to get inside, score and draw fouls when running in transition, maintaining a 12-4 first-half advantage in fast-break points. Scoring opportunities did not emerge as readily in the half-court setting, at least early on.
Eventually, the talent gap between the two sides showed. Outside of Collins, who scored 16 of the first 18 for the Delta Devils, the team shot just 6 of 18 (33.3%) in the first half and 12 for 37 (32.4%) for the game. Collins finished with 27 points. He didn’t have a teammate hit double-figures until MVSU’s Arecko Gipson reached 10 points on a layup with 2:47 to play in the second half.
The Tigers, of course, contributed to those scoring woes. Honor had two early steals, while Shaw and Kobe Brown had two blocks apiece in the first half. Brown finished with three blocks while Hodge (six steals) and Honor (three) combined for nine steals.
Sure enough, that defense helped spark the offense to begin the second period.
The Tigers went to a full-court press, which appeared to fluster the Delta Devils. Missouri took its first double-digit lead, 50-40, at the 15:31 mark. Hodge batted a pass away for a steal and, later in the ensuing offensive possession, scored on a tip-in. Then Honor came up with a steal and threw it ahead to Hodge for a transition dunk to put the margin at 10.
Missouri never looked back, leading by 20-plus for most of the final 10 minutes. Next up, the Tigers will face Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Mizzou Arena, with two games remaining until the first real test of the year: a road contest at Wichita State on Nov. 29.