Opening on the road against Howard, the Missouri Tigers started the season off with a solid victory.
Looking back to last year’s roster, the Tigers’ roster was one of the deepest in the entire country, along with having nine players averaging over 12 1/2 minutes per game.
Game one of the 2025-2026 proved that narrative to be just the same as the bench had a great opening night in D.C.
In the 88-67 victory over the Bison, the Tigers had 39 bench points that came from the four guys who got the chance to play.
Of the three Tigers — Jayden Stone, Shawn Phillips Jr. and Jacob Crews — to score double-digit points tonight, the only starter in that group was Phillips. He finished the game with a career-high 16 points.
In addition to Stone and Crews off the bench, Luke Norweather and T.O. Barrett shined off the bench as they had a truly impressive night shooting the ball.
As a team, the Tigers shot an impressive 10 of 19 from 3-point range. The bench accounted for eight of those on just 12 attempts.
Considering the absence of both Trent Pierce and Annor Boateng, two guys who will both likely see a good chunk of minutes, the Tigers’ depth seems to be just as strong as it was the year before.
Jayden Stone was impressive in tonight's win as he finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. All throughout the second half, he was the spark plug for the Tigers as they ran away with the game.
It’s no surprise to see Stone doing a chunk of scoring for the Tigers, as he has always kept a reputation of being a scorer.
Stone has had a long and successful college career to this point, with stops at Grand Canyon and Detroit Mercy during the first four years of his career. Last year, he suffered a season-ending injury at West Virginia before even playing a single game.
The last season that Stone was a healthy participant, he averaged 20.8 points for Detroit Mercy.
The Tigers are back at home on Friday as they host Southeast Missouri State, as fans at Mizzou Arena will get the chance to see their first look at a highly anticipated team.
This article was written by Aaron Marks.