Missouri Tigers fall to winless Jackson St. in basketball. Takeaways from loss at home

The Missouri Tigers had a fight on their hands from start to finish of Sunday evening’s men’s basketball game against Jackson State at Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers from the SWAC were relentless throughout, including in the final moments of the game: After Nick Honor knocked down one of two free throws to put Missouri (3-2) up by one, the visitors won it on a contested short-range jumper by guard Chase Adams.

Final score: Jackson State 73, MU 72 — the first win of the season for Jackson State (1-5), and a disappointing outcome for MU.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Final moments: Jackson St. 73, Missouri 72

Mizzou needed to clutch up.

The Tigers didn’t.

While Mizzou was able to escape Minnesota victorious thanks to a 20-point comeback and last-second heroics, Sunday’s result was more shocking.

Adams’ shot bounced around the rim before dropping in with just more than 5 seconds remaining. Mizzou inbounded the ball to Sean East II, who went up the right-hand side of the court and appeared to be trying to feed an inside pass to Jordan Butler.

The pass went nowhere and the clock hit zeros.

And Mizzou came up empty for the second time in three home games.

Turnovers problematic for Missouri

MU head coach Dennis Gates, on more than one occasion this fall, has bemoaned his team’s assist-to-turnover ratio.

Things didn’t get much better during the opening 20 minutes of Sunday’s game against Jackson State.

The Tigers turned it over 11 times in the first half, resulting in 17 points for the opposition. The game’s other Tigers made shots, grabbed steals and generally hung around.

Missouri led by just three points, 37-34, at halftime.

Sloppy defense was only the start of Mizzou’s woes. The hosts sagged off their visitors, opting to keep 7-foot-5 center Connor Vanover, who made his first start, near the rim.

Jackson State, not regarded as much of a force from 3-point range, made that work, letting loose on open looks and canning two of their first three attempts from deep.

The visitors kept making shots even after the big man left the game and Mizzou started guarding the perimeter.

Jackson State guard Ken Evans led all scorers with 22 points, including three made 3-pointers.

Honor led Missouri with 17 points.

Bright spots for Mizzou: Carralero, Grill

Nineteen seconds after entering the game, MU forward Jesus Carralero Martin stepped in front of a pass by Jackson State guard Coltie Young.

Carralero drove into the paint and bounced a pass through traffic to freshman Anthony Robinson II. Robinson converted an easy layup.

With the home team down five against supposedly overmatched competition, Carralero provided the first spark of the night for Missouri.

On MU’s next possession, Carralero collected the ball in the corner and dropped in a 3-pointer for his first points — and first shot attempt — of the game.

The native of Spain did a lot in limited action: He provided a pick for Nick Honor, he crashed the offensive boards, he directed traffic and fed pin-point passes to his teammates.

In his eight minutes of game-time in the first half, Carralero collected four assists, three offensive rebounds, one defensive rebound, one steal and the aforementioned 3-pointer.

In the second half, Missouri found its spark in Caleb Grill. The Wichita native put up 15 points and seven rebounds, and his energy benefited Mizzou for the second straight game.

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

This story was originally published November 19, 2023 at 7:18 PM.