Three Takeaways From Missouri's Win Over Howard

The final score might look better than how the Tigers played, ranging from Missouri's offensive struggles to its inability to defend the perimeter.

Nov. 8, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri guard Tony Perkins (12) drives towards the basket, with the Tigers going on to win 77-62 against the Howard Bison. / Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Missouri picked up an important, much-needed win over the Howard Bison in its home-opening game of the 2024-2025 season. The Tigers looked much better against the Bison, but still displayed some major flaws.

The Tigers could not hit a shot from the perimeter by any means. They had the looks but just could not capitalize. On the other side, Howard made them from every spot beyond the arc. The Tigers, defensively, were able to shut down the Bison in nearly every other facet of the game. Without Missouri's defensive pressure outside of the perimeter, Howard may have been able to create chaos at Mizzou Arena.

With that in mind, here are three takeaways from Missouri's first win of the new season.

Missouri's Defense

It might not show up on the stat sheet, but the number of deflections the Tigers forced and turnovers and steals caused trouble for the Bison on offense. Outside of its ability to score from the perimeter, Howard struggled offensively when they were not attempting threes.

Anthony Robinson II was the defensive leader for the Tigers. He brought energy at every defensive turning point while forcing three steals and too many deflections to count. His active hands and athleticism on defense make him pesky to go up against. He set the tone for the Tiger defense, setting up others, like forwards Marcus Allen and Aidan Shaw, to bring that same intense pressure.

As a whole, the Tigers forced 17 turnovers and grabbed 11 steals. Shaw grabbed two steals as did guard Tony Perkins, close behind Robinson's three. Four other Tigers' grabbed a steal as well.

When Howard was unable to settle down and get into offensive sets, Missouri was able to disrupt and create turnovers. When the Tigers were able to create turnover opportunities, it allowed them to run and score in transition. It's not clear that the Tigers will need to force turnovers in order to win games.

Free Throws

Against Memphis, Missouri shot 16-for-25 from the free throw line. You can point to multiple reasons for an explanation as to why the Tigers let the game slip away in the second half, but Missouri's inability to capitalize from the charity stripe was certainly one of them. If they make more of those or get more trips to the free throw line, especially when its shots were not falling in the second half, the game can be saved.

It's clear there was an emphasis on getting to the charity stripe more against Howard. They made 31 trips to the free throw line and made 26 of them shooting nearly 20% better most recently. Again, there were times when the Tiger offense could not get going. Getting to the free throw line and capitalizing on it was a main contributor in Missouri maintaining a lead and not the other way around.

Three-Point Shooting

Missouri didn't shoot amazing from the outside against Memphis, going 29.2% from the perimeter. It was good enough to keep them around in the game, but not good enough to win.

Against Howard, the Tigers shot significantly worse from three, shooting 13.6% from three, but still managed to win. Below 20% might be good enough to beat Howard, but as the season progresses, it will not be good enough to defeat SEC opponents and teams like Kansas, Illinois, and California.

The Tigers' shot selection was not bad by any means. There were not many late-shot clock attempts from outside and not many contested ones. Frankly, the Tigers missed wide-open shots all night. If they made just a couple more, the game would not have been competitive at all.

Down the stretch, the Tigers had plenty of great opportunities to extend its lead from shots from the perimeter. They didn't capitalize, therefore making the lead closer. Bates was the beneficiary of all three makes from the perimeter, going 3-from-7 on the night. The Tigers will have to find consistency from the outside to take down tougher opponents.

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