Missouri beats Valparaiso 56-41, Kim Anderson’s first win as Tigers’ coach

Missouri coach Kim Anderson walked the line in front of his bench and emphatically whirled his fist through the air. A few strenuous claps followed before he returned to his spot near the scorer’s table.

A defensive stop ignited the fiery response. It was the type of play — and subsequent reaction — indicative of the grit Anderson says this team needs while it learns to jell offensively. And without much offensive rhythm Sunday, Missouri required every bit of that defensive mettle.

The Tigers used it Sunday to overcome another sluggish performance offensively and pull away for a 56-41 win against visiting Valparaiso in front of a paltry crowd of 5,369 at Mizzou Arena on Sunday.

Two days after UMKC stunned the Tigers in his Missouri coaching debut, Anderson got his first victory with his alma mater.

“Friday night was an embarrassment,” Anderson said. “I’m not taking anything away from UMKC — they played great — but to lose at home in that first game, I think (it made) our guys somewhat tentative. I think they were nervous. And they played through it by playing good defense.”

A bounce-back win Sunday denoted only the start of a journey toward redeeming that season-opening loss. But the operation is far from its conclusion.

Missouri, 1-1, led by only one point at halftime after Valparaiso guard Tevonn Walker’s layup was ruled to come a split-second after the halftime buzzer.

“I don’t think we’re going to be real pretty,” Anderson said. “We might be later on, but right now, we’re not.”

Not that it matters. It was a win just the same — and everyone involved was quick to admit it was an important one.

Sure, it came on Nov. 16 — still more than a week before Thanksgiving — but in the genre of momentum-builders, this would qualify,

“We definitely needed a win,” Clark said. “We were a little nervous and didn’t know exactly where we stood before that game on Friday. It just woke us up and made us a little more aware of where we need to go and how to get there.”

That recipe appears to be on defense. MU made only six of 24 shots in the first half — before shooting 53.8 percent in the second half — but it never trailed by more than one point.

With good reason. The Tigers held Valparaiso to 32.6-percent shooting and allowed only six offensive rebounds.

Missouri used a 10-0 run

“I thought D’Angelo Allen made some really key plays,” Anderson said. “... I thought that was really key — getting into the middle of the floor. And that’s something we didn’t do Friday.”

Allen came off the bench to score four points in 13 minutes.

Johnathan Williams III spent a large chunk of his time there, too, after battling foul trouble. He picked up his second foul with 6:45 left in the first half, limiting his production to two points and two rebounds before halftime. He finished with 10 points and six boards.

On Friday, UMKC stifled Missouri with a zone defense. Two days later, Valparaiso used a combination of a man-to-man and zone defenses to the same effectiveness.

MU shot 40 percent in the game. It made four of 17 three-pointers

“Don’t lose to UMKC twice. And we didn’t.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2014 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Missouri beats Valparaiso 56-41, Kim Anderson’s first win as Tigers’ coach."