Sean East II Leads Missouri Basketball to Resilient Victory in Pittsburgh

After back-and-forth play for most of the game, the Tigers narrowly closed out the Panthers in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Missouri basketball closed out a tough game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, gaining its six win of the season, 71-64.

The highest contribution of the night was from senior guard Sean East II, who led the team with 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting, paired with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. He has been on a tear this season, cementing himself as the Tigers' true offensive leader. 

Most of the rest of the scoring came from senior forward Noah Carter's 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting and eight rebounds, followed junior guard Tamar Bates' 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. 

The Tigers outshot the Panthers 45 percent to 34 percent, and took 13 shot attempts. Pittsburgh got a large amount of its points from the free-throw line, making 25 out of 31 attempts. 

Nov 28, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tamar Bates (2) reacts to Pittsburgh Panthers forward Zack Austin (55) after Bates made a three point basket during the first half at the Petersen Events Center / © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The first half started off with back and forth scoring, with the score standing at 17-17 with 10 minutes left before halftime. Caleb Grill got off to a hot start, scoring five points on his first two shots. 

East and Bates got it going towards the end of the half, scoring 10 points each. Missouri shot 11 more times than Pittsburgh, helping it take a 38-35 lead heading into the second half.

Most of the second half played out relatively the same, with neither team jumping out to much of a large lead. However, things began to turn the Tigers way.

Missouri (6-2) increased its lead to 62-52, including a dunk from Connor Vanover and a 3-pointer from East. 

However, the Panthers (5-2) weren't done yet.

They went on a 10-2 run to get the score within two points with two minutes left, off a deep 3-pointer from Blake Hinson. 

Missouri found a way to retaliate with an alley-oop dunk to Vanover, and East followed by securing the win with 3 free throws. 

It was an important game for the Tigers to win, especially after dropping a game to Jackson State the previous week. They will now set their sites on Wichita State back in Columbia on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 2:00 p.m. CT. 

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