How shorthanded Mizzou basketball still won big against South Carolina State

Mizzou basketball opened its Thanksgiving week with a 98-66 win over the MEAC’s South Carolina State, as five Tigers scored in double figures.

Shawn Phillips Jr., Mark Mitchell and Sebastian Mack led the Mizzou starters, combining for 44 points. Phillips had 17, followed by Mitchell’s 15 and Mack’s 12.

Annor Boateng and T.O. Barrett led the bench with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Tigers notably were without one of their most valuable pieces in Jayden Stone. The guard, who has been averaging 13.3 points per game through Mizzou’s first six games, sustained a hand injury during practice Monday and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks, the program announced earlier Tuesday.

“You could tell he was missing tonight,” head coach Dennis Gates told reporters postgame. “It kind of discombobulated my rotation a little bit and impacted the space and the gravity on the court.”

Still, the Tigers (7-0) were explosive and dominant in their win over South Carolina State (0-7).

“Our guys were able to step up and step into a role,” Gates said. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another. That’s why our depth is very important, because that’s the strength of our team. We want to have a ‘next man up’ mentality.”

While Missouri certainly missed Stone’s 63% shooting from the field and 41.7% shooting from 3, the Tigers erupted for 55 first-half points on 54.3% shooting. Mitchell went 5-for-6 in the first half to lead all Tigers with 13 points.

“Great to see our guys jell, continue to get better,” Gates said. “I thought we came out early being able to set the tone, and we played very unselfishly.”

Missouri also found success early from deep, shooting 37.5% from behind the arc in the first half. Despite a dip in 3-point shooting in the second period (1-for-9), Mizzou didn’t exactly need much from the offense. This one was already over.

Defensively, Missouri held South Carolina State to 35.5% shooting in the first half. The Bulldogs also shot 23.1% from 3 in that time. For the game, they shot 37.5% from the field, 19% from 3 and also committed 12 turnovers.

The Tigers kept the gas pedal down and led by as many as 37 points in the second half. The last time the margin dropped below 20 was around the three-minute mark in the first.

Trent Burns makes 2025-26 season debut for Missouri

Redshirt freshman Trent Burns also made his long-awaited Tigers debut Tuesday.

A former four-star recruit, Burns hasn’t seen the court since Mizzou’s 2024-25 preseason exhibition against Lincoln. He missed all of last season with a foot injury, and has been recovering from a similar injury after undergoing surgery in September.

“Was a little nervous,” Burns told reporters postgame. “But the whole staff top to bottom, from coaches to managers, they’ve been there the whole time through my rehab even last year. It took a lot of pressure off of me, and I just got to go play.”

The 7-foot-5 center played limited minutes — just 11 — but scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds.

“I think the more games I play, the more minutes I play, the more rust I’ll knock off and get back to what we call lag-free,” Burns said.

Burns’ family, including his younger twin sisters Raegan and Reece, were in Columbia for his season debut. Burns said postgame his twin sisters helped him make his college choice.

The reason? Gates took the family out for ice cream.

“Back on the plane it’s, ‘When are we going to Mizzou again?’ and ‘When are we going to see Coach Gates again?’” Burns recalled, with his sisters standing behind him after Gates called them up to the podium during the news conference. “That really was always in the back of my head, just hearing them talk about it. They didn’t talk about other coaches like that.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 9:28 PM.

Maddie Hartley

The Kansas City Star

Maddie Hartley is a former journalist for the Kansas City Star, The Star, KC Star