Missouri coach Dennis Gates: ‘Really good to see’ Anthony Robinson shine vs. Georgia
Mizzou men’s basketball sophomore Anthony Robinson II intercepted a pass from Georgia’s De’Shayne Montgomery, dribbled the ball down the court and rose for a two-handed dunk.
The highlight was part of a 15-0 scoring run in the second half that fueled the No. 21 Tigers’ 87-74 rout of Georgia on Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
“It was a well-connected win,” Robinson said on the Tiger Radio postgame show. “My guys believed in each other, believed in me to play the point guard position and we came out with the win today, so it was a great day.”
Robinson’s interception on Montgomery and dunk that gave Missouri a 68-54 lead with 11:13 remaining in the final frame was not his only highlight in the contest.
The Tallahassee, Florida, product lunged into a passing lane, beat sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. on the fast break and rattled the rim with a right-handed slam dunk to give the Tigers a 64-54 advantage with 12:13 left.
“Our defense stepped up. We were able to create points off turnovers,” Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said. “Ant Robinson had a big half. It was really good to see him step up.”
Robinson’s defensive efforts fueled Mizzou’s offense — which scored 18 points off nine turnovers — and he also played a role in several showtime plays.
After taking a 10-point lead with the one-handed dunk, Robinson threw an alley-oop pass from the right wing that was caught and dunked by junior wing Mark Mitchell.
Robinson also received the ball at the top of the key, used a screen from graduate guard Caleb Grill and drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Columbia squad a 71-54 lead with 11:13 remaining.
“When the ball (is) moving, everybody feels involved and you know we’re going to make shots that way,” Robinson said.
Robinson fouled out with 1:06 left in the second half, tying Grill for a team-high 15 points to go with five rebounds, seven assists and four steals on 7-for-11 shooting.
Mizzou (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) did not start the game that secured its fifth Quad 1 win (5-6) in the same way that it ended it, though.
The Tigers struggled early, shooting 3-for-8 from the field and 1-for-4 from 3-point range to be tied with the Bulldogs (16-10, 4-9) at 7-7.
Mizzou’s shooting woes continued through the first half, with MU shooting 36.1% (13-for-36) from the field and 26.3% (5-for-19) from beyond the arc in the frame.
Although the Tigers recorded 12 offensive rebounds and boasted a 54.1% offensive rebounding rate at halftime, they only had 11 second-chance points to show for it.
Grill fired a shot from 3-point range, grabbed his own miss and sophomore Trent Pierce shot a second-chance layup. The attempt was swatted by Georgia freshman forward Asa Newell, and Robinson came up with the offensive rebound.
Pierce misfired a 3 from the left corner. Robinson retrieved the missed shot once more and was unsuccessful in trying to cash in a layup.
Graduate center Josh Gray grabbed the offensive rebound and graduate forward Jacob Crews put an end to the possession by getting fouled by Demary on a mid-range attempt tied at 36 with 1:03 remaining in the opening frame.
The chaotic Mizzou offensive possession, featuring four offensive rebounds, showcased the team’s struggles in the first half. The Tigers were also unable to protect the rim, allowing 22 points in the paint in the first frame.
Although the Tigers were unable to fully thwart the Bulldogs’ production around the rim — which consisted of 20 points in the paint in the second half — MU had a red-hot start to the second half.
The Tigers shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field to take a 55-49 lead with 15:03 left after trailing by three points (41-38) at halftime.
Within Missouri’s 17-point flurry, senior guard Tamar Bates received the ball at the left wing, juked his defender and drove into the paint for a two-handed posterizing dunk on Demary. Bates stared him down after the play as MU led 53-47 with 16:07 remaining.
The Tigers’ shooting improved to 58.8% (20-for-34) from the field and 40% (4-for-10) from deep in the second half, which featured a dagger 3-pointer from Grill with 2:35 left.
Pierce recovered his own miss after being rejected at the rim by Newell and threw the ball out of the post to Grill in between the left wing and corner. Grill drilled the 3-pointer without going into his full shooting motion.
The shot gave Mizzou an 85-66 lead, its largest of the clash.
Graduate guard Tony Perkins put the metaphorical cherry on top with a highlight play of his own.
After receiving a full-court inbounds pass from Grill, Perkins soared through the air for a right-handed dunk over Newell to extend MU’s advantage to 87-70 with 1:22 left.
Mitchell and Bates joined Robinson and Grill in double-digit scoring, posting 14 and 13 points, respectively. Mitchell added five rebounds, two assists and a block, while Bates recorded three rebounds and an assist.
Grill tallied five rebounds, an assist and four steals.
“We had 18 assists, three turnovers, nine steals and we ended up winning the rebounding war (36-27),” Gates said. “I’m just proud of our guys to be able to do what they did on the road.”
Newell recorded a double-double in the loss for the Bulldogs, scoring a game-high 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The four-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner added two assists and three blocks, shooting 11-for-15 from the field.
Missouri next takes the court against No. 2 Alabama (21-4, 10-2) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Mizzou Arena. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published February 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Missouri coach Dennis Gates: ‘Really good to see’ Anthony Robinson shine vs. Georgia."