Mizzou stays hot from deep in 91-56 win

Missouri Tiger coach Dennis Gates has talked many times about wanting his players to shoot more 3-pointers.

And not just his main shooters, but everyone at every position.

The strategy worked Friday night as eight Tigers hit at least one shot from beyond the arc to power a 91-56 win against the Pacific Tigers at Mizzou Arena, giving the Black and Gold their fourth consecutive win.

Caleb Grill led the way once again, hitting 7-of-9 shots from deep on his way to a game-high 25 points. The performance makes Grill 17-of-23 on 3-pointers in the past three games.

“I feel like I’m hitting that groove, feeling real good with my body,” Grill said. “Just want to carry it throughout the whole season. … Every time I shoot, I think it’s going in and when I miss it, honestly, it’s more surprising to me.”

But it wasn’t just Grill. Marques Warrick, Tamar Bates and Trent Pierce hit 3s as usual Missouri shooters, while Anthony Robinson, Mark Mitchell and Marcus Allen all made attempts from deep.

And Josh Gray, who had attempted only two tries from deep in his career, sank one from the top of the key as well.

“I always told my team and coach I was a good shooter at heart,” Gray said. “They were sagging off a couple of times, I think I felt like I owed it to myself, to my team, when I got the ball a couple times on the perimeter, just to look at the rim.”

It was Gray’s first attempted 3-pointer since Feb. 4, 2023 when he was playing against Arkansas for South Carolina.

The shooting frenzy didn’t start early for the home Tigers as Missouri struggled out of the gate, falling behind 7-2.

But then Gates went to the bench less than three minutes into the game to grab a couple of shooters and break the Pacific defense.

With Grill and Warrick coming on, the Missouri offense got rolling.

Grill made a layup then Warrick hit two free throws and a 3 off a Bates assist to put the home Tigers in front for the first time at 11-9 with 13:56 left in the first half.

They would never fall…

Source link : https://missouri.rivals.com/news/mizzou-stays-hot-from-deep-in-91-56-win?yptr=yahoo

Author : Mizzou Today

Publish date : 2024-11-23 03:51:00

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