Missouri’s newcomers top returners in Black and Gold exhibition

Missouri’s young bucks beat the returners Friday during the annual Black and Gold exhibition, dubbed Halloween and Hoops this season, at Mizzou Arena.

The Gold team, which included only one holdover from last season (walk-on Hayden Barnard), won both halves during a 36-30 victory against a Black team that included six returning players and junior guard Martavian Payne, a transfer from John A. Logan College.

“I saw some good stuff, some stuff we had worked on, and I was pleased with the young guys,” Tigers coach Kim Anderson said. “I thought they came out and played with a sense of energy, turned the ball over maybe a little too much, but there were some good things.”

Freshman guard K.J. Walton was aggressive early, showing an ability to get to the basket and finish that Missouri sorely lacked last season.

Walton scored eight points, all in the first half, with two rebounds and two steals.

“He’s a guy who can slash, and he’s a good shooter,” Anderson said of Walton. “He’s continued to work on his shooting, which has made him an even more effective player. Now, tonight he didn’t have to. The good news is he can slash. The bad news is the defense didn’t do a very good job stopping him.”

Freshman Kevin Puryear led all scorers with 13 points, including three three-pointers, and added a game-high five rebounds in 14 minutes.

“I’ve been in the gym a lot before practice, after practice working on that,” Puryear, a Blue Springs South graduate and the reigning DiRenna Award winner, said. “To see my shots falling is really building my confidence a lot. I think throughout the season, I can knock a lot of those down.”

Anderson said Puryear figures to get the bulk of his minutes in the post this season, but he could also play at either forward spot, and Missouri wants him to exploit that newfound range.

“The key is that he takes shots when he’s open, and he did that tonight,” Anderson said.

Puryear made all five shots he attempted from the floor.

Junior forward Russell Woods, another transfer from John A. Logan, added six points and a game-best five rebounds, providing some much-needed punch inside along with Puryear.

“Russ was pretty good just doing what Russ can do,” Anderson said. “As long as he plays within himself, he’s a good athlete and he can rebound really well. That makes him pretty effective.”

Anderson said he initially planned to change up the teams at halftime, but he kept the status quo with a tight game — Gold led 18-14 — brewing.

“We like it, because it gives us a chance to show that, just because we’re freshmen, we’re not going to back down from anything,” guard Terrence Phillips said.

Phillips finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists, but he also had five turnovers.

Senior Ryan Rosburg led the Black team with seven points, while sophomore Jakeenan Gant added six points and a game-high five boards.

Bri Porter paces women

During the women’s scrimmage, Missouri’s Black team claimed a 30-15 victory behind sophomore Bri Porter’s 10-point effort.

Porter, whose freshman season ended after 12 games with a torn ACL, also added two rebounds and a block in 12 minutes.

“I thought it served its purpose, and it was fun for the girls,” Tigers coach Robin Pingeton said.

She tried to divide the teams relatively even, but the Black team wound up shooting 50 percent (12 of 24) and the gold only shot 20.8 percent (5 of 24).

“Our defense did really well,” said junior forward Jordan Frericks, who scored six for the Black squad. “We said we wanted to hold them to 15 and we did.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Missouri’s newcomers top returners in Black and Gold exhibition."