To get better after season-opening loss, Mizzou needs to regroup against Valparaiso

In its 69-61 opening-game loss to UMKC on Friday, Missouri played like a team still getting to know one another.

“We still don’t have that good feel for each other yet,” guard Wes Clark said.

Any coach will tell you there aren’t enough preseason practice dates, but that may never be more true than in Missouri’s case.

The Tigers are working with a roster that includes eight newcomers, and they all are new to first-year coach Kim Anderson, who looks for his first victory today against Valparaiso in a 5 p.m. tipoff at Mizzou Arena.

What’s more, players who accounted for about 70 percent of the scoring and field-goal attempts last season have moved on. The program is starting over — and as Friday’s loss proved, more time is required to build the foundation.

“They’re young and they haven’t played much together,” Anderson said.

He noticed a team of players trying to get comfortable with each other during exhibition victories over William Jewell and Missouri-St. Louis.

The Tigers fell behind early and trailed by as many as 11 early in the second half before making a run that cut the score to 48-45 with 10:42 remaining. Mizzou had the ball and needed a good possession.

Instead, the Tigers turned it over, and the margin quickly jumped to seven.

Keith Shamberger’s three-pointer made it 52-48, and the arena came to life. But UMKC scored the next five points as Mizzou came away empty on its next two possessions.

UMKC’s zone gave MU trouble, but so did the Tigers’ decision-making.

“I do think that a couple of times we had a chance to do something and then we’d make a mistake,” Anderson said.

The Kangaroos, especially point guard Martez Harrison, kept pressure on Missouri. Harrison finished with 26 points, making 15 of 16 free throws.

Valparaiso got 20 points from guard Darien Walker in its 90-76 victory over East Tennessee State on Friday in support of a 27-point game from forward Alec Peters. The Crusaders shot 50 percent from the floor — 55.6 percent from beyond the three-point arc — and outrebounded East Tennessee by 10.

The Tigers figure to be in for another challenge.

“That’s the good thing about college basketball,” Anderson said. “You have one day to prepare, and if you feel sorry for yourself you’ll get beat again.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 4:38 PM with the headline "To get better after season-opening loss, Mizzou needs to regroup against Valparaiso."