SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah didn’t earn any style points during Thursday’s win over Missouri, despite leading by 20 for most of the second half.

David Collette scored 17 and Utah beat Missouri 77-59 in a choppy ballgame in which neither team played particularly well on the offensive end.

The Utes (3-0) got their best win of the season after victories over a pair of SWAC teams to begin the campaign.

“We both had the same thing going on,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “We had an awful lot of great looks (early). It wasn’t pretty. We were missing open looks. They were missing open looks.

“What really broke the game open was we started making some shots and they continued to struggle a little bit.”

Utah led from start to finish, including 35-19 at halftime after a horrendous offensive performance by the Tigers (2-1). The home team played strong defensively, mixing in some zone, taking away the paint and contesting everything. Missouri started the game 2 for 17 and didn’t hit its first 3-pointer until 2:06 remained in the half. Mizzou shot just 20.0 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and was 1 for 13 from behind the arc.

The 59 points were a season low.

“It was really weird,” said Utah forward Tyler Rawson, who finished with 12 points. “We were able to keep our defensive intensity and even though shots weren’t going in, coach was pleased with how we were keeping our defensive intensity.

“Sometimes when shots aren’t falling, it affects our other end of the floor. We did a good job sticking to our defense.”

A pair of back-to-back triples from Justin Bibbins and Gabe Bealer gave the Utes a 23-point lead early in the second half and the Tigers never got closer than 18 afterward, and that was on the final basket. Freshman Donnie Tillman added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“There’s no excuse,” Missouri guard Kassius Robertson said. “We were in the game even though we weren’t shooting the ball. It wasn’t about shooting the ball.

“We needed that. We got kicked in our mouth and we needed it. We didn’t respond well at all. Tonight’s defense was absolutely horrible.”

Mizzou was without star freshman Michael Porter, Jr., who suffered a leg injury in the first game of the season. The preseason All-American was one of the top recruits coming out of high school and is expected to be a high NBA draft pick in June.

Robertson led Missouri with 12 points.

“That’s one of the biggest things we talked about,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said about their 1 for 15 start. “When we’re on offense, move the ball and don’t settle for threes. Because in this place, it seems as if you’re open, all of a sudden you don’t have your legs under you and you miss three straight and then it spirals from there.”

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers are just three games into the Martin era and in the infancy of becoming the type of program the new coach wants. They played well defensively, but it was overshadowed by the horrific offensive performance in the first half.

Utah: Things weren’t necessarily pretty for the Utes, but a win over an SEC program is a nice early victory for a team replacing four of their top six scorers from last season. Utah is still finding its identity, but remains undefeated while doing so.

MISSED OUT

Twenty-two scouts were originally scheduled to be in the building, in large part, to watch Porter. At least four dropped out and some members of the media did the same. Porter did not travel and has missed the last two games after being injured two minutes into the season opener.

SLOPPY

The Tigers’ 10 first-half turnovers didn’t help the cause as they were already struggling to put the ball in the basket. Mizzou finished with 14 turnovers compared to Utah’s six.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Emporia State on Monday.

Utah: Travels to play Ole Miss in the MGM Resorts Main Event tournament in Las Vegas on Monday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sophie Cunningham scored 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds left, to cap No. 23 Missouri’s fourth-quarter rally and 82-80 victory over Wright State on Thursday night.

Missouri (2-1) used a 14-5 run to cut a nine-point deficit and tied the game 75-75 with 3:50 left. It was tied at 78, and again at 80 when Wright State’s Symone Simmons made a layup with 28 seconds left. But Simmons sent Cunningham to the line before Nia Sumpter’s desperation 3-point shot ended it.

Jordan Frericks had 26 points to lead Missouri. Cierra Porter added 13 points and 15 rebounds for her 15th career double-double.

Chelsea Welch scored a career-high 36 points for Wright State (2-1).

Frericks scored eight points and Porter added five in the fourth quarter for Missouri, which outscored Wright State 23-15 in the final period.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball junior Sophie Cunningham is one of 30 student-athletes named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top 30, as announced Tuesday on ESPN’s Sportscenter. The list is comprised of student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.

The list is chosen by a preseason poll of women’s college basketball media members. This is Cunningham’s first time being named to the Top 30. She is one of six players from the Southeastern Conference on the list. The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2018 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s, the nation’s top individual honor.

Players not chosen to the preseason list are eligible for the Wooden Award midseason list, late season list and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Voting will open prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games.

The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2018 John R. Wooden Award will be presented during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 6, 2018.

In October, Cunningham was named Preseason First Team All-SEC by both the league’s coaches and the media. She was also named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association 2018 Cheryl Miller Award watch list, an honor that goes to the nation’s top small forward.

In 2016-17, Cunningham averaged a team-best 17.5 points per game, which ranked fourth in the SEC. She led Mizzou in total points, points per game, assists per game, free throw percentage, field goal percentage and total field goals made for the season. Cunningham finished with 10 20-point performances in 2016-17 and has 20 such outings in only 63 career games. She ended the regular season with four consecutive 20-point performances, racking up a pair of National Player of the Week awards.

Cunningham earned Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention recognition and First Team All-SEC honors after leading Mizzou to 22 wins, a third-place finish in the Southeastern Conference and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1985 and 1986. She steered Mizzou to wins in back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri found no difficulty scoring in star freshman Michael Porter Jr.’s absence. Five different Tigers scored in double digits as the Tigers routed Wagner 99-55 on Monday night.

Kassius Robinson scored 23 points and Jontay Porter had 11 points and eight rebounds in Missouri’s victory.

Missouri (2-0) shot 68 percent from the field, including 12 for 22 from beyond the arc. Robertson led Missouri with five 3-pointers and eight different Tigers made at least one 3.

The Seahawks had trouble against Missouri’s height. Nobody on the Wagner (1-1) roster is listed as taller than 6 feet 9 inches, while the Tigers used three players — Jeremiah Tilmon, Jontay Porter and Reed Nikko — above 6 feet 10 inches. Wagner committed 32 fouls and had three players foul out.

“From the beginning of the game, they established their size and athleticism,” Wagner coach Bashir Mason said. “I thought that bothered our guys for the entire 40 minutes.”

Missouri’s scoring versatility has increased significantly from last season. Returners Kevin Puryear and Jordan Barnett have faced much less defensive pressure with a slew of newcomers, led by the Porter brothers, Robertson and Tilmon.

“There’s almost times where I can stand in the corner and I know I’ll get the shot at some point,” Barnett said. “I really think we do a good job of spreading the floor. You have a lot more weapons on this team than last year.”

The Tigers outscored Wagner in the paint (36-22) and 37-22 off the bench. Blake Francis led the Seahawks with 17 points.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: Even without their star freshman, Porter Jr., the Tigers look well-rounded to start the season. Freshmen Tilmon and Jontay Porter have each scored and helped free up the floor for returning players Barnett and Puryear.

Wagner: The Seahawks lost their four leading scorers from last year, and that was evident in their low-scoring effort against Missouri. Wagner will likely endure some growing pains after replacing nearly half of its roster.

STAR WATCH

Porter Jr., considered a potential lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, didn’t play against the Seahawks, and he also wasn’t seen on the bench. Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin specified his injury as a leg injury and said he didn’t know whether Porter Jr. will travel with the team for its game against Utah Thursday. The freshman played just 1 minute, 40 seconds against Iowa State last Friday.

FOUL TROUBLE

Tilmon saw just 10 minutes and fouled out with 11:07 remaining in the second half. The freshman has been susceptible to foul trouble in both exhibition and regular season games this year.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Missouri was ranked just outside of the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, receiving nine votes. The Tigers trailed just Alabama, Rhode Island, Virginia, TCU and Providence among unranked teams receiving votes.

UP NEXT

Missouri hits the road for the first time this season to face Utah. The Utes dominated Prairie View A&M and Mississippi Valley State in their first two contests.

Wagner plays its first home game Saturday against American, which got blown out against Kansas State to open its season.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Ish Witter gashed Tennessee’s defense for 216 yards rushing as Missouri cruised to a 50-17 victory on Saturday night.

In his final home game, Witter averaged 9.0 yards per carry and scored a touchdown while exceeding 2,000 rushing yards for his career.

It was a good night to be a Missouri running back, as Larry Rountree carried 18 times for 155 yards and a touchdown. The Tigers (5-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) dominated the line of scrimmage, with both running backs often reaching the secondary before they were touched. The Volunteers (4-6, 0-6) compounded their problems with numerous missed tackles.

Missouri racked up 433 yards rushing and 226 yards passing. In its last two games against Tennessee, the Tigers have gained a combined 1,399 yards.

Missouri’s Drew Lock completed 13 of 28 passes for 217 yards with four touchdowns. Emanuel Hall caught five passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns. He would have had a much bigger game if not for three drops, including one sure touchdown.

Tennessee was probably happy every time the Tigers decided to throw, considering they averaged 8.2 yards per rush. Nigel Warrior intercepted Lock in the first quarter and scored on a weaving 70-yard return, helping the Volunteers tie the game at 7.

Freshman Will McBride, whose redshirt was pulled last week, became Tennessee’s third starting quarterback this season, following Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano. McBride showed his toughness late in the first half when he absorbed a huge hit from safety Anthony Sherrils but bounced back to convert on fourth-and-2 with a 22-yard pass to Brandon Johnson. Then he released a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ethan Wolf just before being knocked flat on his back by defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr.

It was the Volunteers’ first touchdown pass since Sept. 23, ending a five-game drought. That tied the game at 17 with 1:15 left in the half. But Tennessee yielded a 64-yard Rountree run that set up his 1-yard touchdown plunge with 18 seconds left before intermission.

The Tigers dominated the second half, thanks in part to a defense that forced four turnovers, including three takeaways on three straight Tennessee snaps. Sherrils started that binge with an interception and finished it by ripping the ball from running back Carlin Fils-aime and recovering the fumble.

McBride completed 16 of 32 passes for 139 yards, with two interceptions. Missouri sacked him five times, including two each by Marcell Frazier and Tre Williams.

THE TAKEWAY

Missouri: The Tigers have won four straight games and dominated all of them. Their average margin of victory during the streak is 37 points.

Tennessee: The lopsided loss will only add to the heat on embattled coach Butch Jones. The Volunteers need to win their final two games to qualify for a bowl.

UP NEXT

Missouri: The Tigers will try to become eligible for a bowl next week when it visits Vanderbilt (4-6, 0-6) on Saturday.

Tennessee: The Volunteers will finish the regular season with two home games, beginning Saturday with a visit from No. 24 LSU (7-3, 4-2).

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men’s Basketball was able to start its 2017-18 season with a resounding win, beating Iowa State 74-59 in front of a capacity crowd at Mizzou Arena Friday night. The Tigers relied heavily on the three-point shot and were great when they went to it, shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc. Head coach Cuonzo Martin’s squad was led by junior forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.), who poured in 17 points on 86 percent shooting. Puryear came out with something to prove on opening night, leading the Tigers in both points and rebounds (8) for the ninth time in his career.

TURNING POINT

Coming out of the halftime break, Iowa State mounted a run, using a 10-4 spurt to cut the Mizzou lead to single digits for the first time since the 9:38 mark in the first half. Freshman forward Jeremiah Tilmon (East St. Louis, Ill.) was able to answer, though, putting down a hook shot off of an offensive rebound. After a defensive stop, Tilmon again went to work down low, stepping around his defender on the base line for a layup. After a stretch of back-and-forth action, graduate transfer guard Kassius Robertson (Toronto, Ontario) knocked down a three coming off of a brush screen, which extended Mizzou’s lead to 15 points. After another strong defensive stand, junior guard Jordan Geist (Fort Wayne, Ind.) recovered a loose ball, and splashed a pull-up three on a two-on-one fast break, inflating the Black & Gold lead to 18 points. The Tigers’ lead would never again dip below 15 points.

TOP TIGERS

– Freshman forward Jeremiah Tilmon owned the interior, scoring 14 points on 78 percent shooting. Tilmon also pulled down seven rebounds, two of which came on the offensive glass.

– Graduate transfer guard Kassius Robertson played a balanced game in his Mizzou debut, scoring 11 points, grabbing five rebounds, and dishing out two assists.

– Senior forward Jordan Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) had 15 points on 50 percent shooting, including a thunderous two-handed slam that took the top off of a sold-out Mizzou Arena.

NOTES
– Senior forward Kevin Puryear set a new career-high in steals, with three on the night. It was also a team-high.

– Puryear led the Tigers in points and rebounds for the ninth time in his career and for the third time in his last four games dating back to last season.

– Mizzou Arena sold out for the first time since March 5, 2013, against Arkansas.

– The win against the Cyclones tonight marked the Tigers’ 150th all-time win against Iowa State.

– With Coach Martin’s win in his debut, Mizzou coaches moved to 17-2 all-time in debut games.

UP NEXT
The Tigers are set to host Wagner on Monday, November 13, at Mizzou Arena. The tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CST.

— MU Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association named Mizzou redshirt senior forward Jordan Frericks a candidate for the 2018 Katrina McClain Award on Thursday. The honor recognizes the top power forwards in Women’s Division 1 college basketball.

Frericks is one of 20 watch list candidates in the nation and one of just three SEC players on the list, joining Florida’s Haley Lorenzen and Georgia’s Caliya Robinson. Frericks is coming off a redshirt after a knee injury sidelined the Quincy, Illinois, native for the entire 2016-17 season, but the 6-foot-1 senior has been dominant when healthy.

In 2015-16, Frericks was named Second-Team All-SEC by coaches and honorable mention All-SEC by the Associated Press after averaging 12.1 points and 7.7 assists, while racking up 44 assists, 39 steals and 24 blocks. She became the 33rd member of Mizzou’s 1,000-Point Club, tied the eight-best single-season field goal percentage mark at 55.1 percent, scored in double figures in 21 games and recorded seven double-doubles.

In her most recent action against McKendree on Nov. 6 in the final game of exhibition play, Frericks picked up right where she left off, racking up nine points on 50 percent shooting while also collecting four defensive boards, four steals and two blocked shots in just 17 minutes. Frericks and the Tigers open regular season play this Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT as they take on Western Kentucky in the opening round of the Hawkeye Challenge.

The Selection Committee for the Katrina McClain Award is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

The list will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and then five finalists will be selected in March that will be presented to Katrina McClain and the selection committee. The winner of this award will be presented live at an inaugural awards ceremony hosted by the Basketball Hall of Fame, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, and ESPN at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Columbus, OH.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A statue of Mizzou’s Hall of Fame men’s basketball coach Norm Stewart will be dedicated on Friday, Nov. 10, at 1:30 p.m. on the Walsworth Family All-American Plaza on the north side of Mizzou Arena.

The statue, which was funded by private donations, will honor Stewart’s 39-year association with his alma mater as a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach of Mizzou Basketball from 1967 through 1999. He won more than 630 games in his Hall of Fame career while guiding Mizzou to 16 of its 26 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances and 19 Big 8 Conference championships (eight regular-season titles, six postseason tournament crowns and five holiday tournament championships). All-told, his Mizzou teams played in the postseason 22 times and won 20-or-more games in 20 seasons.

The dedication program, hosted by former Voice of the Tigers John Rooney, will include remarks from Bobby Cremins, representing Coaches Vs. Cancer, Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk, University of Missouri Chancellor Dr. Alex Cartwright, two-time Big 8 Player of the Year Doug Smith on behalf of Coach Stewart’s players, and Stewart.

The statue was created by world-class sculpture and St. Louis native Harry Weber, who has commissioned the statue of former Mizzou football coach Don Faurot, which is located at the north end of Memorial Stadium, as well as the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s Legends Walkway.

The dedication is free and open to the public. Fans interested in attending should park in lots around Mizzou Arena, however, they must remove their cars immediately following the dedication.

— MWSU Athletics —