Week 6 of Mizzou men’s basketball featured a light schedule, highlighted by a home matchup against LIU on Saturday. The Tigers started hot, jumping out to a 20-8 lead early behind big 3-pointers from Aidan Shaw and Marques Warrick. From there, it became the Trent Pierce show. Checking in at the 8:05 mark of the first half, Pierce erupted for 17 points, helping Mizzou build a 21-point halftime lead.
Though the Tigers had a slower start offensively in the second half and allowed a brief run by the Sharks, they withstood the pressure and cruised to an 88-61 victory. Pierce finished with a career-high 24 points, including 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Warrick also delivered his best game as a Tiger, adding 16 points and going 4-of-5 from deep.
What looked good vs. LIU:
- 3 point shooting (14/28 from 3 as a team)
- Mark Mitchell has proven that he can get to the rim at will
- Trent Pierce had a career game today and this could be a great spark for him offensively
- Anthony Robinson II had 6 steals and is making his case to be one of the better defensive players in the country (averaging 2.4 steals per game)
What looked bad vs LIU:
- Tigers didn’t get to the line enough and when they got there, they didn’t connect (12/19 as a team from the free throw line)
- 13 turnovers as a team
Takeaways from the week:
- Mizzou hasn’t suffered too much with Caleb Grill being out
- When Grill comes back, if he shoots the ball consistently, this Tiger team could solidify themselves as a top-25 team in the nation
- Anthony Robinson’s defensive intensity and pressure is doing wonders for this Tiger squad as a whole the defensive side has looked great to this point in the year
Upcoming Games:
Tuesday: Home vs. Jacksonville State (6:30pm CST)
Sunday: Neutral Site (St. Louis) vs. Illinois (Noon CST)