Mizzou Guard Expected to Miss Majority of Non-Conference Play

Missouri guard Jayden Stone will miss the next three-four weeks of the season with a left hand injury, the team announced in a press release Tuesday.

Stone has been Missouri's second-leading scorer on the season, averaging 13.3 points per game. He's also averaged 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 25.2 minutes per game. So far this season, Stone has been an important scoring spark off the bench for the Tigers.

Stone transferred to Missouri from Detroit Mercy this offseason. He missed all of last season with a head injury.

“Jayden has had a tremendous start to his first season at Mizzou,” head coach Dennis Gates said in the release. “After missing last season with an injury, it was great to see him back to being himself and such a strong contributor to our early-season success. This is just a small bump in the road, though, and we look forward to him getting back on the court before SEC play begins.”

Jayden Stones goes for a layup. — Nov 9, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Jayden Stone (17) goes up for a contested layup against the VMI Keydets at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers won the game 106-68. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSi

The timeline provided by the team sets Stone's earliest return date for Dec. 15, just over a week before Missouri's final non-conference game of the season, its annual game against Illinois in St. Louis.

Missouri has dealt with multiple injury issues early this season, with three players all missing the first five games of the season, and two of those players continuing to miss time.

Wing Annor Boateng was the first of the trio to return from injury, making his sophomore debut in Missouri's game Thursday against South Dakota. He played 14 minutes in the game, grabbing one assist, one rebound and scoring three points.

"Coming off of our preseason, I thought he (Boateng) was one of the top three guys on the team," Gates said after the South Dakota game. "and his rhythm got disrupted. ... It'll come back to him. He just got to get back in game shape, and he'll do that."

Missouri has also been without redshirt freshman center Trent Burns and junior forward Trent Pierce to begin the season. Burns underwent surgery on his right foot in September, while the details of Piece's injury have yet to be revealed.

"As we continue to get our team at 100%, I'm looking forward to that day," Gates said. "Until then, it stunts the growth of your program and your team if you're only at 89% to 90% participation of your roster because of whether injuries or sicknesses. The other thing is, I'm excited about what it says about our depth. If someone goes down or gets in foul trouble, I'm not afraid to use what our roster has shown me thus far."

Missouri will play its first game without Stone on Tuesday night, with the Tigers set to host South Carolina State at 7 p.m.

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