For the fifth straight contest, Annor Boateng, Trent Burns, and Trent Pierce were all out due to injury; it didn't matter much in the final result. The Tigers took down another mid-major, Prairie View A&M, 91-73 on Monday night in Columbia, and balanced scoring was very much on the menu.
On the topic of those three players, Gates had this to say post-game.
“First of all, I’ll say this, I listen to our doctors. I listen to the doctors and trainers and parents," Gates said. "We have to understand, these are young men and they have parents. So I follow the rules and regulations of parents and the importance of following internal doctors in our sports team, and they do a great job."
“Boateng, barring no interruption, will be on minimal minutes next game. It was great to see him in practice, I’m glad he got the chance to warm up. And barring any setbacks, he should be playing in minimal minutes.
"Trent Burns, it’s the normal routine that we announced at the very beginning. He’ll have a doctor’s appointment, I believe, next week and we’ll see what the doctors say, again. But it’s great to see him out there warming up in a no-contact (phase). So, that’s no contact. Warm-ups is no contact, no defense. So he’s been cleared, no contact, but he can’t go five-on-five yet. Trent Pierce, I’m just waiting on (the) doctor’s updates, just in terms of how he’s feeling, different things like that. He has not practiced.”
By the halftime whistle, the Tigers led 49-27, and at least six Tigers (5-0) had five or more points. One of those six was Jevon Porter, who, by the first media timeout in the first half, had tied his season-high point total.
Other Tigers followed suit. Shawn Phillips Jr. ended the night with his second double-double performance of the season, totaling 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Anthony Robinson II had 10 at the half and added on a steal and a bucket before leaving the game with 11:48 left in the second half, after being helped off the court following his steal and contested layup.
Robinson entered back into the contest a little over three minutes later.
18 of the Tigers' bench points came from the 3-point specialist Jacob Crews, who was 4-of-5 on the night from beyond the 3-point arch.
Someone else whom the Tigers have relied on for bench depth is newcomer Jayden Stone, whose efficient clip of 5-of-7 from field goal range landed him with 12 points on the evening in another impressive outing.
The Panthers (2-3) were the victim of multiple double-digit runs by the Tigers, the largest of which was 13 and the largest lead of the Tigers at 35 with 10:12 in the second half.
One noticeable trend that wasn't all positive for the Tigers in the second half came from Nicholas Randall, who fouled out just four minutes after checking into the game. Overall, it was no affect on the rather seamless night for Mizzou.