Live Blog of Mizzou's Home Opener Against SEMO

Live analysis from Mizzou Arena.

Dec 8, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Anthony Robinson II (0) high fives his teammates during player introductions at Mizzou Arena. | Amber Winkler / MissouriOnSI

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri men's basketball has returned to Mizzou Arena for its home opener Friday night, with the Tigers set to take on SEMO. The Tigers were 18-2 at home last season.

Missouri is coming off a 88-67 win over Howard on the road to open the season. The Tigers now enter a double-header of a weekend, being set to also take on VMI on Sunday.

Missouri is expecting a physical SEMO team. The Redhawks forced 15 turnovers in their season opener against St. Louis.

SEMO is led by Brad Korn, the reigning Ohio Valley Conference coach of the year.

"He's a great coach, great tactician," Gates said of Korn. "He's a great situational guy. When you watch the film and see how they control the game, they do a good job."

Follow the blog for live updates from Mizzou Arena. Newest updates will be posted at the top.

Second Half

• Mark Mitchell is up to the line to shoot two as the Tigers lead 83-78 with under a minute remaining. It looks like Missouri can finally exhale.

• It's tied again after a free-throw make from SEMO, 76 each with under four minutes remaining.

• Since Missouri took its first lead of the half at the 14:06 mark, the score has been kept within four points. This is shaping up to be a back-and-forth finish. Missouri leads 74-73 with 4:57 left.

• A 3-point make puts SEMO back in the lead, going up 68-66 with just over eight minutes remaining. SEMO has made 7 of its 23 3-point attempts.

• The defensive presence Missouri has with its two transfer centers has been apparent in this second half — both Luke Northweather and Shawn Phillips Jr. have made impressive blocks at the rim.

• With a layup from Mark Mitchell, Missouri now has its first lead since the 6:25 mark of the first half. Tigers lead 59-58 with 14:05 remaining.

First Half

Stats

StatMonitr

• Missouri allowed 41 points in just the last 13 minutes of the half. The Tigers' defense hasn't been physical enough in both the paint and on the preimeter.

• Both T.O. Barrett and Anthony Robinson II have looked scattered so far this seson. Both have been prone to turnovers and some poor passing decisions.

• Jayden Stone and Luke Northweather make consecutive 3-point shots to revive Missouri, but the Tigers still trail 44-43 with just over two minutes remaining.

• SEMO now has a lead over Missouri for the first time tonight, taking a 36-34 lead with fve minutes in the half.

• SEMO has tied the game at 34 after an and-one shot. Turnovers continue to be an issue for Missouri offensively, and defensively, the Tigers are giving SEMO basically anything it wants on the perimeter.

• Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Tigers — they've given up five in the first 10 minutes of play. The defense also hasn't been stellar, allowing SEMO to go on a 10-2 run. Missouri still leading 25-18 with 10:20 remaining.

• Shawn Phillips Jr. bringing all the intensity you could ask for considering the stackes, or lack thereof, for this matchup. The center was jawing with a few SEMO defenders after a physical run in.

• Jayden Stone checks in the game and already has a hot hand, making a jumper from mid-range, then a 3-point shot on the next possession to put Missouri up 17-6.

• Like in the season opener, Jayden Stone and Luke Northweather are the first players off the bench for Missouri.

• At the U16 timeout, Missouri holds a 10-0 timeout.

Pregame

• Missouri unveiled a banner commemorating its berth in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a postseason run this fanbase would probably like to forget about. But a banner is a banner!

Starting Lineups

Missouri	SEMO
Anthony Robinson II	BJ Ward
Sebastian Mack	Troy Cole Jr.
Jevon Porter	Luke Almodovar
Mark Mitchell	Braxton Stacker
Shawn Philips Jr.	Brendan Terry

Who: Southeast Missouri State (0-1) at the Missouri Tigers (1-0)

What: Game 2 of Missouri's season

Where: Mizzou Arena (15,061)

When: Friday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.

TV: SECNetwork+

SirusXM: Home 391

Radio: Tiger Radio Network: (Play-by-play Mike Kelly, Analyst Howard Richards, Sideline Chris Gervino)

Series: Missouri leads 9-0.