This duo transferred up to Missouri Tigers. They’re finding success as postseason nears
Change is hard, especially in the wild world of SEC men’s basketball.
Entering league play in a conference touted by many media pundits as the strongest they have ever seen, it can seem like a daunting task trying to adapt to the Southeastern Conference’s increased strength and intensity.
“I’ve never seen anything remotely like what we’re seeing in the SEC this year,” ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said Feb. 11 on “The Paul Finebaum Show.” “This is the most powerful basketball league top to bottom that there has ever been.”
Graduates Marques Warrick and Jacob Crews accepted that challenge head-on, transferring up from mid-major schools in the offseason.
“It’s hard to transfer to a new school and play like you were at your old school ... especially coming from mid-major programs like they were, making the adjustment up to high major,” graduate guard Caleb Grill said Feb. 18 in a news conference. “The physicality aspect of the pace of play is going to be a little bit different, but both of them have done a really good job using their strengths and playing to what they’re really good at.”
Warrick transferred to Mizzou from the Horizon League’s Northern Kentucky, where he averaged 18 points across 125 games with the Norse.
“I think (Warrick’s) beyond consistent,” MU coach Dennis Gates said Oct. 9 at Mizzou’s media day. “It’s important to understand when a kid is circled on a scouting report and he’s still able to go out there and perform at a high level, the way he has been able to throughout his career consistently. I’ve seen it up close and personal.”
The 6-foot-3 guard’s scoring portfolio — which featured 2,246 career points — was attractive enough itself to reason the Tigers’ signing. One of the main concerns regarding Warrick’s game was his defensive production.
“We joked with him early on that he was allergic to defense, not much interest or ability to do it,” Northern Kentucky coach Darrin Horn said in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader for a feature story published on Feb. 9, 2024. “He’s really grown in that area.”
Warrick amassed a 110.1 defensive rating with the Norse in the 2023-24 season. For context, Tennessee senior guard and 2023-24 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Zakai Zeigler boasted a defensive rating of 99.8 last season.
Given the tough, physical and disruptive nature of the SEC, which averages 79.4 points per game, Warrick has only seen a 2.8 increase in defensive rating with a 112.9 mark.
Although his defensive rating spiked, Warrick’s offensive rating soared to a 138.4 with the Tigers in 29 games this season. The stat is 28.5 points (over 100 possessions) higher than his 109.9 last season at Northern Kentucky, and 12.2 more than Auburn senior forward/center Johni Broome’s 126.2 rate this season.
“I was kind of overthinking it at first, going into the preseason and how I’m supposed to balance (my offensive mindset) being with a new situation,” Warrick said Jan. 10 in a news conference. “Coach Gates just told me from Day 1, I got the green light, so that helps a lot. I can shoot really whenever I want.”
Warrick averaged 8.2 points in nonconference play, scoring as many as 17 points in an 81-61 win over Lindenwood on Nov. 27 at Mizzou Arena.
“He’s a silent assassin. He’s stealth,” Gates said in the postgame news conference. “He could have very well gone for 30. I would love to see him shoot more than 10 times a game, regardless. And that’s my only gripe with ‘Ques.”
Facing the daunting task of trying to knock off No. 1 Auburn in Missouri’s first game of the SEC season, Warrick served as the lone bright spot in the black-and-gold Tigers’ 84-68 loss Jan. 4 at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama.
The Lexington, Kentucky, product scored 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. Warrick followed up his SEC-opening performance with 12 points in an 83-67 triumph over LSU on Jan. 7 at home.
“Marques Warrick had a tremendous last two games,” Gates said after the win over the Bayou Bengals. “Auburn game was great (and) he just flowed seamlessly into this game. ... He didn’t get sped up. He was able to get to double figures, and I just thought he impacted the game upon substitution.”
After the two double-digit scoring games to open the league slate, Warrick scored only four combined points in the next six games. He did not play in the then-No. 22 Tigers’ 83-75 victory over No. 16 Ole Miss.
Warrick made the most out of his minutes in losses to then-No. 4 Tennessee (85-81) on Feb. 5 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, and then-No. 10 Texas A&M (67-64) on Feb. 8 at home, scoring eight and six points, respectively.
“Not being the main focal point, as I was at Northern Kentucky ... that’s really helped (take) a lot off my shoulders,” Warrick said Jan. 10. “Since the best defenders ain’t guard me every single play, now I can really make good decisions with the ball.”
Warrick cracked double figures twice since the first two games of conference play, tallying 16 points in an 92-85 loss to Arkansas on Feb. 22 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and 10 points in a 96-84 loss to Oklahoma on Wednesday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
“I score the ball when things get stagnant,” Warrick said. “Just being a microwave scorer coming off the bench, that’s just my job.”
Warrick’s blossoming in SEC play has run tandem to Crews’ SEC uprising.
The 6-8 forward also transferred from a mid-major school in the offseason, transitioning from the Ohio Valley Conference’s UT Martin to Missouri.
Crews is in a similar position to Warrick regarding offensive and defensive rating in a power-conference. His offensive rating is 119.5 this season, which is down 7.3 from last season. Crews’ defensive rating is currently 109.4, up from a 103.1 rate last season.
Crews finished in double-digit scoring only twice in the nonconference slate, posting 11 points against Mississippi Valley State (111-39) on Nov. 14 and 19 points in a triumph over Jacksonville State (83-72) on Dec. 17 at home.
Against the Gamecocks, Crews shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range after entering the clash with a 24.1% clip from deep.
“Karmen Crews, his wife, would not let him in the house without taking extra shots (after the game),” Gates said postgame. “He’s in transition, and I’m excited with what he did tonight. And that’s the Jacob Crews that I think will continue to show up and help us.”
Crews had a slow start to league play with his six points in the loss to Auburn being the most he scored within January.
“I think the physicality part (of the conference) is the first thing I noticed in my game,” Crews said Feb. 11 in a news conference. “Coming from the OVC, it’s a big difference. (The SEC) is the most competitive league in college basketball. Everybody wants to be in here.”
February was a different story for the Hilliard, Florida, product, where he shot 46.7% (14-for-30) from 3 across eight games played. His SEC-high in points came in the loss to the Aggies, where he had 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 clip from deep.
“The more and more minutes that I get, the more and more I can contribute,” Crews said after the loss.
Crews recorded back-to-back 10-point games to end February, the first being in the loss to the Razorbacks and the second coming in the 101-71 home win over South Carolina on Feb. 25.
Crews is averaging 5.4 points and 2 rebounds on 34.7% shooting from 3, while Warrick is posting 6.5 points and 1.3 assists on a 43.5% clip from deep in the 2024-25 campaign.
“Its the kids that I know (Warrick and Crews) are, and sometimes adjustments are single races,” Gates said Feb. 11 in a news conference. “You gotta wait to figure out the race that one kid individually runs and see how long it takes for him to adjust. It’s not about just the team.
“What was great to see is Marques Warrick take that jump, but with that opportunity, he took the jump. So I’ve got to look at more opportunities for these guys so they can continue to do what they need to do. Jacob Crews the same thing. ... Our depth is a strength, and we do it by committee.”
Grill named to SEC Community Service Team
Grill was named to the SEC Community Service Team on Thursday after leading the Tigers in community service hours throughout the 2024-25 season.
The Wichita, Kansas, product has volunteered at the local Children’s Hospital and participated in the annual Sneaker Ball at the Boys & Girls Club of Columbia on Oct. 3.
Grill also partook in Reality U — a program that puts kids in realistic adult situations to prepare for the future — with Wichita Public Schools and wrote gratitude letters to veterans and local school children during his MU tenure.
Grill averages 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 25 games this season, shooting 50% from the field and 42.6% from 3-point range. He currently ranks 18th in NCAA Division I 3-point percentage, drilling 72 of 169 attempts.
Warrick, Crews, Grill and No. 15 Mizzou (21-9, 10-7 SEC) conclude their regular season against No. 19 Kentucky (20-10, 9-8) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "This duo transferred up to Missouri Tigers. They’re finding success as postseason nears."