Mizzou Basketball Closes Non-Conference Play with Win

After almost a month away from Mizzou Arena, the Missouri Tigers men's basketball team closed its non-conference schedule with solid 92-59 victory over Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Tamar Bates was 9-for-10 from the field, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to lead all scorers with a career-high 25 points.

"I just do what the game calls for," he said. "It isn’t too special or too complicated."

Guard Sean East II had 16 points. Forward Noah Carter had 11 points and eight rebounds. Center Connor Vanover had 11 points as well, as the Tigers shot 54 percent from the field.

Central Arkansas was within 26-25 with 7:29 left in the first half, when Mizzou pulled away for good and led 46-31 at halftime. Sophomore guard Carl Daughtery Jr. topped the Bears (3-12) with 23 points. Freshman forward Tucker Anderson netted 11 before fouling out.

Missouri had an edge of 47-22 in rebounds, a season low for Central Arkansas, and 46-16 in the paint.

“I thought we bothered them in different ways," head coach Dennis Gates said. "I thought we were consistent with our defense. We stayed in the stance and didn’t gamble. We took care of the basketball in the last 7-10 minutes of the first half. We had 10 turnovers in the first half which was a factor, we got to the foul line, which was also a factor. It wasn’t necessarily about making jump shots but it was just making the right plays, right reads that lead to some unbelievable baskets from our players."

In the process, the Tigers (8-5) snapped a three-game losing streak, although two of the losses were to ranked opponents.

Missouri had opened the month with a 82-72 victory against Wichita State on Dec. 3. It subsequently lost to No. 2 Kansas, Seton Hall and No. 13 Illinois, all away from Mizzou Arena, with the latter two at neutral sites (St. Louis and Kansas City).

“I wish we played better," Gates said. "I wish we played better. I thought we put together a schedule that could have put us in SEC play as a top-25 team. But unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the win against Kansas, against Illinois, against Seton Hall, and obviously, you know what our schedule was. We lost some games that we let slip away. But there are lessons that we learned and hopefully, those lessons show up in SEC. That's what I'm hoping for.”

The Tigers will open Southeastern Conference play next Saturday at home against Georgia.

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