Notes and Observations From Mizzou's Exhibition Win Over Kansas State

The Tigers haven't started the regular season yet, but got a taste of it against Kansas State in an exhibition matchup.

March 8, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates addresses an official while playing the Kentucky Wildcats Mizzou Arena. | Amber Winkler/Missouri On SI

The Missouri Tigers hit the court for the first time of the 2025-26 season against the Kansas State Wildcats, taking them on in a home-hosted exhibition game.

The Tigers won this game 100-91, getting the chance to show off their depth and what they've improved on. 12 Tigers saw the court on Friday night, excluding junior forward Trent Pierce and redshirt freshman center Trent Burns, who's once again dealing with a foot injury.

Everyone surrounding Missouri's program has high expectations for the Tigers this season, which started with this win over Kansas State. They have a long season ahead, but they're off to a solid start.

"Regardless of the rankings, you gotta go out and do the work, and our guys are gonna continue to pride themselves and ourselves, this program, about going to do the work," head coach Dennis Gates said at Missouri's media day. "We got to go earn what we want, and that's obviously the opportunity to play in a National Championship game."

For the most part, Missouri never really faltered against Kansas State. The Tigers fell behind by six points early in the first half, but responded with a 14-0 run and never looked back. Kansas State led for under four minutes of the entire game.

Here are some notes and thoughts from Missouri's exhibition victory over the Kansas State Wildcats.

Notes from Missouri's win

• Arguably, the most impactful thing that occurred during this game was a potential injury to senior forward Mark Mitchell. It happened late in the first half during a putback dunk attempt, landing awkwardly on his left wrist. He didn't play at all during the second half and had it wrapped in ice on the bench.

• The Tigers might have a rising star in junior guard Anthony Robinson II. He finished the game with 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting. Not only was he scoring at a high level, but he was able to create a lot of his own buckets and was very clearly looking for them.

1⃣4⃣-0⃣ run for the home team@anklebully_ant // #MIZ 🐯 pic.twitter.com/YzY74aUDjz

— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) October 25, 2025

• Robinson was also doing a good job as a playmaker. He managed to establish a good lob connection with big man Shawn Phillips Jr., something Missouri very clearly lacked last season. Robinson finished the night with four assists in total.

• The Tigers have a lot of good on-ball defenders, but there were multiple missed assignments and miscommunications in help defense. It might just be first-game jitters and early-season kinks, but those will have to get cleaned up quickly.

• Annor Boateng had himself a nice night. He finished with 15 points on 4-for-5 shooting, along with six rebounds.

• Missouri didn't exactly light it up from the perimeter, going 6-for-22. That being said, the shot selection from the three-point line was generally gone. It's far too early to be concerned about it.

• Gates played all 12 players who were able to play against the Wildcats. The Tigers got 49 points from their bench of the 100 that were scored.

• The exhibition game ended with some fireworks after Kansas State guard C.J. Jones shoved T.O. Barrett to the ground with under a minute to play. Once the game was done in the handshake line, multiple Tigers needed to be held back from other Kansas State players. Gates was visibly displeased with his team.