Is the 3 an issue? Takeaways from Missouri basketball’s slump-busting win over Howard

Sound the bells.

It’s over.

Missouri basketball ended a 20-game losing streak with a 77-62 win over Howard on Friday evening at Mizzou Arena, surviving a late scare from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference visitors to pull away and put a win on the board for the first time since Dec. 30, 2023.

The visiting Bison made it a cagey affair late on in Columbia, making it a four-point game with 3:30 left to play. But Mizzou closed the game with a 14-3 run, and closed the door on a brutal 11-month stretch.

Here are three takeaways from Missouri’s first win of the season and, moreover, its first in the calendar year 2024:

The 3 failed Missouri basketball, but it will keep shooting

There came a point in the second half that MU coach Dennis Gates told the team it was time to change direction.

The Tigers did, after all, have a 3-of-22 — 13.6% — night from behind the 3-point line. For Missouri basketball players not named Tamar Bates, that number was 0-of-19.

MU forward Aidan Shaw said Gates told the players in the second half that the emphasis needed to “get paint touches and score in the paint.” Mizzou finished 26-of-31 at the charity stripe and had 42 points in the paint. That accounts for 68 of their 77 total points. Mission accomplished.

But there was, still, just a little too much temptation as Howard was eating into MU’s lead.

“They could not resist it,” Gates said. “Bates made his baseline out, and it’s almost like that stirred it up again, where, ‘Oh, we’re open. We’re open. Let’s shoot it.’ And we have to be able to do certain things other than just catch-and-shoot. We were winning the free-throw game.”

Nov 8, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates gestures to players against the Howard Bison during the first half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images

That isn’t deterring the Mizzou coach, though. A hallmark of Gates’ offense is taking the shooting opportunities when they come. He wasn’t upset with the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/3-issue-takeaways-missouri-basketballs-090428799.html

Author : Columbia Daily Tribune

Publish date : 2024-11-09 09:04:00

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