Sunday, December 15
Columbia, Mo.
3 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
4-7 (0-0)
48
at
64
Missouri
6-4 (0-0)
1
2
F
Southern Illinois
22
26
48
Mizzou
33
31
64
Mizzou takes down SIU, 64-48
12/15/2019 | 6:22:00 | Men's Basketball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's basketball team used a stifling defense to beat Southern Illinois 64-48 on Sunday afternoon in Mizzou Arena. The Tigers limited the Salukis to 29.4% shooting for the game.Â
The game started as a defensive battle both ways -- the score was 4-3 five minutes into the game and was 9-9 at the 12-minute mark of the first half. But Mizzou guard Mark Smith changed the game with four-straight 3-pointers to give Mizzou (6-4) a 21-9 lead, and SIU (4-7) never got within single-digits the rest of the game. Smith, a former Illinois Mr. Basketball, had a career-high 23 points and tied a Mizzou Arena record with seven 3-pointers.Â
"Losing Mark Smith (for open 3-pointers) and offensive rebounds were our problems," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said. "Offensively, our execution wasn't good enough to give ourselves a chance to win tonight."
Mizzou controlled the rebounding battle, 37-21, and the Salukis never found a flow offensively, finishing the game with just 10 made field goals against a Missouri defense that came into the game ranked in the top-35 nationally in defensive efficiency.Â
"They didn't let us catch the ball on the wings," Mullins said. "Obviously, they're starting 6-3, 6-5, 6-7, 6-11, and 6-11 -- they have a lot of length on the perimeter, and I think it bothered some of our offensive execution. We have to do a better job playing downhill. Today, we were playing East-West too much. We have to go North-South when teams are pressuring us."
The Salukis found nearly half their points from the free throw line, converting 23-of-26 attempts (88.5%). Eric McGill led SIU with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half to bring SIU within 11. But Mizzou started the second half on a 12-2 run to put away any thoughts of an upset -- the Salukis were searching for their first true road win at a Power 5 school since 2000.Â
SIU redshirt freshman Karrington Davis, who is coming off back-to-back season-ending injuries, played his best game as a Saluki, scoring nine points down the stretch. He was 2-of-3 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line in 10 minutes.Â
"We did a little better job in the second half of going downhill against their pressure," Mullins said. "We got some hand-check calls. Karrington gave us a good lift in the second half, but we have to be more aggressive from the start of the game."
UP NEXT: SIU hosts back-to-back home games for the first time this season later this week. The Salukis host Hampton at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night and SEMO at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Banterra Center.Â
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The game started as a defensive battle both ways -- the score was 4-3 five minutes into the game and was 9-9 at the 12-minute mark of the first half. But Mizzou guard Mark Smith changed the game with four-straight 3-pointers to give Mizzou (6-4) a 21-9 lead, and SIU (4-7) never got within single-digits the rest of the game. Smith, a former Illinois Mr. Basketball, had a career-high 23 points and tied a Mizzou Arena record with seven 3-pointers.Â
"Losing Mark Smith (for open 3-pointers) and offensive rebounds were our problems," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said. "Offensively, our execution wasn't good enough to give ourselves a chance to win tonight."
Mizzou controlled the rebounding battle, 37-21, and the Salukis never found a flow offensively, finishing the game with just 10 made field goals against a Missouri defense that came into the game ranked in the top-35 nationally in defensive efficiency.Â
"They didn't let us catch the ball on the wings," Mullins said. "Obviously, they're starting 6-3, 6-5, 6-7, 6-11, and 6-11 -- they have a lot of length on the perimeter, and I think it bothered some of our offensive execution. We have to do a better job playing downhill. Today, we were playing East-West too much. We have to go North-South when teams are pressuring us."
The Salukis found nearly half their points from the free throw line, converting 23-of-26 attempts (88.5%). Eric McGill led SIU with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half to bring SIU within 11. But Mizzou started the second half on a 12-2 run to put away any thoughts of an upset -- the Salukis were searching for their first true road win at a Power 5 school since 2000.Â
SIU redshirt freshman Karrington Davis, who is coming off back-to-back season-ending injuries, played his best game as a Saluki, scoring nine points down the stretch. He was 2-of-3 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line in 10 minutes.Â
"We did a little better job in the second half of going downhill against their pressure," Mullins said. "We got some hand-check calls. Karrington gave us a good lift in the second half, but we have to be more aggressive from the start of the game."
UP NEXT: SIU hosts back-to-back home games for the first time this season later this week. The Salukis host Hampton at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night and SEMO at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Banterra Center.Â
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Team Stats
SIU
MIZ
FG%
.294
.455
3FG%
.294
.348
FT%
.885
.667
RB
21
37
TO
16
15
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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