Four Missouri Tigers score in double figures as MU beats Vandy in SEC hoops at Columbia

It was ugly. Things weren’t perfect.

Still, Missouri men’s basketball managed to escape Saturday’s home SEC matchup against Vanderbilt with a win. Timely offense and late free-throw shooting by DeAndre Gholston and Sean East sealed a 85-82 victory that moved MU to 13-2, 2-1 in conference.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s SEC matchup.

A get-right game?

Missouri played a legitimate top-20 team close Wednesday, dropping 74-68 on the road against Arkansas. The Tigers led that game by as many as 17 in the first half, but head coach Dennis Gates and his team didn’t seem too discouraged afterward.

The Vanderbilt game served as an opportunity for MU to preserve its Top 25 ranking with a win over a team that appeared — on paper — to be overmatched. Vanderbilt had struggled throughout the season, coming in at 8-6.

From the opening tip, Saturday’s game was not one where Missouri could cruise to victory. Vanderbilt made things extremely difficult throughout.

“They did a wonderful job,” Gates said. “My hat’s off. I have so much respect for (Vanderbilt coach) Jerry Stackhouse and what he’s been doing throughout his coaching career.”

Every time it seemed the Tigers were about to pull away, the Commodores came rolling back. With just under 13 minutes remaining in the game, MU was on a run and earned a 10-point lead.

The lead didn’t last. Vanderbilt made things close to the bitter end. Fortunately for the Tigers, they were able to us solid free-throw shooting (27 of 31 from the line) to ice the win.

Gates was thrilled with his team’s effort at the line.

“That’s the only way you can win close games,” he said. “To be able to get to the free throw line and obviously execute in that spot. To be able to shoot the percentage that we shot, I think it was 87, 90%, I think that gives us the confidence, but also it allowed us to control the last three minutes.”

Slow start

Against Arkansas, and in the wins against Kansas and Kentucky, Missouri got off to a hot start. The Tigers were able to get out to large first-half leads in all three of those games.

Not the case on Saturday. Missouri missed its first six shots from the field and Vanderbilt looked dominant on the offensive glass.

“It’s the SEC, every team’s gonna be good coming out,” forward Noah Carter said. “It is 11 a.m. when we started the game so that might have had a little bit to do with (the slow start). We just had to bounce back, persevere through all the runs.”

By the under-16 timeout in the first half, the Tigers were down 8-2, with MU’s points coming on a pair of Ronnie DeGray III free throws. The offense looked uncharacteristically sluggish, bringing to mind the Kansas loss, where MU simply couldn’t make shots.

D’Moi Hodge made a three-pointer and Kobe Brown dunked to put the first two field goals of the game on the board for the Tigers. That was it before the under-12 timeout when Vanderbilt led 55-54.

Slowly but surely, MU got back in the game. Hodge had a huge half, knocking down three-pointers and finishing with 14 points.

Afterward, Gates said Hodge, who ended the game with 17 points and three rebounds, was playing through the flu.

“He gave everything he had,” Gates said. “... He came in the locker room and started throwing up. It is what it is. And that’s what a true, unbelievable, experienced player can do They can play through sicknesses. They can play through adversity and give their very best.”

Eventually, Missouri got the first-half lead for a spell. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they continued to get blasted on the boards and gave up that lead right before the half.

The two teams went to the locker rooms for the break knotted at 34.

Bad on the boards

After the Arkansas game, the attitude around the Tigers was not one of major concern about the rebounding deficits. Missouri knows it is a team without a lot of size, but Gates and company did not seem to think it would be a huge issue moving forward.

On Saturday, the problem reared its head again. From the jump, Vanderbilt dominated the Tigers on the glass, following Arkansas’ template of sending players to the offensive boards, where MU simply couldn’t compete.

Afterward, Gates acknowledged the issue but said the Tigers can’t be defined by it.

“Ultimately you have to be able to hold that as your only negative,” Gates said. “If we had gotten out-rebounded and gave up a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, we would double up the possessions that they have versus we have.”

In the end, the Tigers were out-rebounded 46-27. Vanderbilt was able to capitalize on the offensive glass, turning 15 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.

Missouri’s defense also didn’t have a great day. As has been the case at times all year, the Tigers struggled to get stops. And when the opponent was able to hit shots, things got hairy.

Still, MU managed to get it done. The Tigers will be back in action Wednesday at Texas A&M.

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.

This story was originally published January 7, 2023 at 1:10 PM.