Northwestern beats Missouri 67-62 as Tigers’ comeback bid falls short
Missouri coach Kim Anderson said his squad started out playing with as much intensity as a high school team on defense in an instructional video for coach Chris Collins’ DVD on the offensive sets Northwestern runs.
The result was a 20-point deficit in the opening 12-plus minutes.
“Early on, they were just doing whatever they wanted,” Anderson said. “It was like coach (Collins) was putting out a video to sell. They were kind of running everything and we were helping out. … Then, I thought late in the first half and early the second half, we stirred things up a little bit.”
The Tigers ultimately lost 67-62, dropping a third consecutive game and finishing fourth in the four-team CBE Hall of Fame Classic at the Sprint Center, but Anderson took heart from his players rediscovering theirs after a terrible start.
“I was really encouraged by the way that we fought back in the second half …,” Anderson said. “I think that we went into this game with absolutely zero confidence. I think we were shell-shocked by what happened last night, and I’m proud of these guys for staying with it and turning it around in the second half.”
Missouri, 2-3, was crushed by Kansas State in Monday’s semifinal, the first uncompetitive game of the season for Anderson’s bunch.
The Tigers’ fate was trending the same way against another bunch of Wildcats as sophomore Bryant McIntosh opened the game with three straight three-pointers.
He scored Northwestern’s first 11 points in matching Missouri through a dominant opening stretch.
At one point midway through the first half, assistant coach Steve Shields popped out of his seat and leaned down the bench, clapping his hands and urging the Tigers’ players to show some enthusiasm.
It was hard to muster after a lifeless opening salvo in which Missouri hit 5 of 15 shots and committed five turnovers while getting crushed on the boards.
The Tigers managed to pull within 38-24 at halftime behind forwards Kevin Puryear, a freshman from Blue Springs South, and Ryan Rosburg, the team’s only senior who made his first start of the season.
The game’s tenor changed quickly in the second half as freshman guard Terrence Phillips got dialed in from long range and the Tigers committed only turnovers while evening things up on the boards.
“Our intensity — we didn’t have any in the first half,” Phillips said when asked what changed at halftime. “We dragged ball screens and we ran our plays on offense, but it was our intensity in the second half that really keyed us to fight back, and that is what we have to do from the start.”
Phillips, who committed four first-half turnovers, led the charge for Missouri. He finished with a game-high 16 points, including 13 in the second half, adding six rebounds, four assists and four steals without a second-half turnover.
“He was really good,” Collins said. “He is going to have an outstanding career at Missouri. He’s a tough guy to play against because he gets underneath you and he’s really quick. He pushes the ball and gets to the basket. I’m a big fan of his game and thought he was tremendous tonight.”
Missouri moved the deficit back to single digits barely two minutes into the second half on a three-pointer by junior Wes Clark and layup by Phillips, but Northwestern kept the game at arm’s length — around six points — until the final 5 minutes.
Puryear’s free throw with 34 seconds left made it a three-point game, but that’s as close as the Tigers got.
Still, it was an impressive surge back into contention and showed the mettle and moxie of the 2015-16 squad.
“We were at a little different level there for the last 10 minutes that I hadn’t seen in a while, so, from that standpoint, I was encouraged,” Anderson said.
Missouri’s shooting woes — 23 of 60 from the field, 38.3 percent — persisted, while Northwestern shot an array of uncontested layups in the first half and went 10 of 23 from three-point range.
Puryear finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while Rosburg added seasons highs with eight points and nine boards.
NORTHWESTERN 67
MISSOURI 62
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
Missouri | Min | FG-A | FT-A | O-R | A | PF | PT |
Puryear | 29 | 6-11 | 2-4 | 1-4 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
Rosburg | 28 | 4-9 | 0-3 | 3-9 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
Phillips | 31 | 6-11 | 1-1 | 0-6 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
Wright | 31 | 2-6 | 4-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
Clark | 31 | 1-11 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
VanLeer | 15 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Woods | 12 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Isabell | 8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Allen | 5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Walton | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Gant | 5 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
TEAM | 2-3 | ||||||
Totals | 200 | 23-60 | 11-17 | 10-33 | 15 | 23 | 62 |
Percentages: FG .383, FT .647. Three-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (Phillips 3-6, Clark 1-3, VanLeer 1-4, Isabell 0-1, Puryear 0-2, Wright 0-2). Blocked Shots: 1 (Phillips). Turnovers: 9 (Phillips 4, Puryear 2, Clark, Rosburg, Wright). Steals: 7 (Phillips 4, Clark 3). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: Phillips.
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
N’western | Min | FG-A | FT-A | O-R | A | PF | PT |
Lumpkin | 26 | 2-4 | 3-6 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
Falzon | 21 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Olah | 25 | 2-7 | 3-5 | 2-6 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
Demps | 37 | 5-9 | 2-3 | 0-4 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
McIntosh | 28 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
Lindsey | 25 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
Van Zegeren | 15 | 3-3 | 2-4 | 1-5 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
Ash | 6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Skelly | 17 | 1-1 | 5-5 | 0-3 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
TEAM | 1-2 | ||||||
Totals | 200 | 21-45 | 15-23 | 5-33 | 15 | 20 | 67 |
Percentages: FG .467, FT .652. Three-Point Goals: 10-23, .435 (McIntosh 3-4, Lumpkin 2-3, Ash 1-1, Demps 1-2, Olah 1-2, Lindsey 1-5, Falzon 1-6). Blocked Shots: 1 (Van Zegeren). Turnovers: 14 (Demps 3, Van Zegeren 3, McIntosh 3, Lumpkin 2, Lindsey, Olah, Skelly). Steals: 6 (McIntosh 2, Olah, Falzon, Skelly, Demps). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: McIntosh.
Half: Northwestern 38-24. Att: NA. Officials: John Higgins, Tom Eades, Kipp Kissinger.
Tod Palmer: 816-234-4389, @todpalmer
This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Northwestern beats Missouri 67-62 as Tigers’ comeback bid falls short."