COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men’s Basketball started its 2015-16 regular season with a win, as the Tigers defeated Wofford, 83-74, Friday night at Mizzou Arena.
Freshman forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.) led the way with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, along with five boards. Sophomore guard Namon Wright (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 18 points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench for the Tigers.
Mizzou had a well-rounded effort, as every player that saw minutes chipped in at least four points. Freshman guard Terrence Phillips (Orange County, Calif.) turned in a great all-around performance, producing seven points, three rebounds and three assists, while junior forward Russell Woods (Chicago, Ill.) tallied nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor.
The Tigers shot 56.0 percent from the field in the contest, their best output since the 2013-14 season.
Wofford jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but a 20-2 Mizzou run, initiated by a zone press, gave the Tigers a 22-10 edge with 8:34 left in the first half. The run was capped off by steal from freshman guard K.J. Walton (Brownsburg, Ind.), leading to a fast break layup. Mizzou went into halftime with 39-29 advantage over the Terriers.
The Tigers started the second half with the same press that had worked so well, but Wofford chipped away at Mizzou’s lead with a 9-2 run to close the gap to five, 47-42, with 13:38 on the clock. Wright then scored three of his 15 second half points on a trey to up Mizzou’s lead back to eight.
After a three from Wofford to cut the Tiger edge to 74-67 with 1:50 left, Mizzou combined to shoot 9-of-10 from the charity stripe to ice the game away.
Mizzou’s depth was also on display throughout the contest, as its bench pumped in 42 of the team’s 83 points. The Tigers also outscored the Terriers 34-14 in the paint.
Mizzou looks for its next victory of the new season on Sunday, Nov. 15, as the team hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore at 5 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and have live radio coverage on the Tiger Network.
— Mizzou Athletics —