Missouri men's basketball stayed unbeaten Tuesday night with a 98–66 win over South Carolina State at Mizzou Arena, running out to a 19–1 lead and never looking back.
But in a game full of highlights — a career night for Shawn Phillips Jr., a milestone bucket for Jacob Crews, and another overwhelming paint performance — the moment that resonated most came when redshirt freshman Trent Burns stepped onto the Mizzou Arena court for the first time in more than a year.
Burns, now a 7-foot-5 center, had not played since Missouri’s exhibition against Lincoln on Oct. 26, 2024. He logged seven minutes that day, scoring five points with a rebound and a steal before a stress fracture in his foot shut down his freshman season. Burns was medically cleared late in the year, Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates chose to sit him to preserve his eligibility, giving Burns, the Texas native, a redshirt season.
Burns underwent surgery in September after a separate setback with his foot injury, with the team estimating an 8–12 week recovery timeline. For the past two outings in the Tigers' 2025 campaign, he’d been in warmups, edging closer. Tuesday night, after 11 weeks, the wait finally ended.
Burns' return was announced Tuesday, as first reported by Kyle McAreavy with MizzouToday, finished with seven points, three rebounds, and a block in 11 minutes, but the significance was far larger than the stat line.
“Little nervous,” Burns admitted. “But the whole staff talked to me. They’ve been there the whole time through my rehab, even last year. It took a lot of the pressure off, and I just got to go play.”
Gates didn’t hide what the moment meant to everyone in the program.
“It takes a village,” Gates said. “Our doctors, our trainers, our strength coach, his parents — to get a young man on the court isn’t easy. But Trent stayed patient. He’s talented. He’ll be gifted. Now it’s one step at a time.”
“I’ve played probably 100 games — this was his first,” senior Mark Mitchell said. “I’m proud of him. He’s going to be a really special player here.”
Missouri didn’t need special to roll past the Bulldogs. The Tigers (7–0) scored on nine of their first 11 possessions and held South Carolina State scoreless for nearly five minutes. Phillips led the way with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, adding eight rebounds and two blocks. Mitchell stuffed the box score with 15 points, seven boards and six assists. Sebastian Mack and Annor Boateng each scored 12, while T.O. Barrett chipped in a career-best 11.
Crews reached his 1,000th career point in the second half — though Gates joked he may have cursed him by noticing he was “three points away” earlier in the game.
Missouri shot 52.3 percent from the field, topping 50 percent for the seventh straight game, and shredded SC State inside with a 54–26 advantage in the paint and a 36–10 edge in second-chance points. Defensively, the Tigers held their opponent under 40 percent shooting for the fifth time this year.
Burns’ debut also came at the right time. With major non-conference tests looming — Notre Dame in the ACC/SEC Challenge and Kansas in the Border War — Tuesday allowed him to finally get his feet wet.
For Burns, the night was about more than basketball.
“It means a lot,” he said, noting that his twin sisters — whom Gates jokingly calls his best recruiters — were in attendance. “I want to thank God they got here safely and got to see me play my first game.”
Gates said he FaceTimed Burns’ family the moment the doctors approved him for limited minutes.
“He probably ran around the mall like a little kid in a candy store,” Gates said. “He was excited. We all were.”