Sean East II leads Missouri once again as the Tigers improve to 6-2.
The Missouri Tigers did their part to help their conference reign supreme in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.
Hitting the road for the first time after a disappointing homestand which saw them fall to Jackson State and only beat Loyola Maryland by eight, Missouri defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers 71-64 inside of the Petersen Events Center in PIttsburgh on Tuesday night.
“It started in our post-game when we beat Loyola,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “We won the game, but our guys still were incomplete with that feeling, and sometimes you want to see that competitive edge, that spirit, that fight, and I thought our guys responded.”
From the beginning, the game was a back-and-forth battle, with 11 total lead changes within the first 10 minutes. The Tigers scoring approach proved to be as balanced as the teams were, with the first six Missouri baskets coming from six different players.
“The guys that came off the bench, they were ready,” Gates said. “It allowed me to hold guys accountable.”
With the game tied at 17 with 10:25 on the clock, Pittsburgh created the biggest separation that either team was able to give themselves in the half. A Missouri foul put Pittsburgh in the bonus, and it was able to convert on six consecutive free throws to put them up 23-17.
The Tiger offense came alive in the final seven and-a-half minutes of the first half. as Missouri ended the half on a 21-12 run, led by seven points a piece from junior Tamar Bates and graduate student Sean East II, who ended the first half with a team-high 10 points each.
Any momentum that the Tigers brought from the end of the first half was quickly extinguished by the Panthers. The Tigers committed four fouls, turned the ball over twice, and missed two layups in four minutes allowing Pittsburgh to go up 44-42. However, this lead would end up being their last of the night.
Following Pittsburgh’s momentary lead, Missouri went on an 8-0 run and held a comfortable lead for the next eight minutes. Around the five minute mark, Pittsburgh went on an 8-0 run of their own, capped off by a three-pointer from the logo by senior Blake Hinson which cut the Tiger lead to two.
The Panthers were unable to make another basket from the field in the game’s final two-and-a-half minutes, and East knocked in three free throws in the final minute to ice the victory for Missouri. The free throws also raised the point guard’s scoring total to 21 on the night, a team high. This was the fifth time East has led the Tigers in scoring this year, and the third time he has reached his season high mark of 21 points.
East’s contributions to the game came in more ways than just his scoring output. Missouri made two changes to its starting five, inserting Bates and sophomore Aidan Shaw into the starting five for the first time this season. Head coach Dennis Gates attributed the two changes to a late night text from his captain.
“Sean East texted me in the middle of the night…he just said ‘Hey, what do you think about this,’” Gates said. “I looked at it, dissected it from an analytical standpoint, but he planted the seed.”
The two changes paid off for the Tigers, as Bates ended the game with 12 points while Shaw added four points of his own, along with four rebounds and a block.
Joining East and Bates in double figures were graduate students Noah Carter and Caleb Grill. Carter picked up 13 points while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Grill scored 10 points on his most efficient shooting night of the season, knocking down four of his eight attempts.
One of Pitt’s biggest strengths as a team this season is its size. However, the Tigers had a counter for the Panthers. They are the sixth tallest team in the nation, helped by 7-foot-5 graduate student Connor Vanover. Vanover has been limited in his playing time due to a three game suspension to open the year, but made his mark in his first major opportunity of the year. Vanover scored six points, grabbed seven rebounds including three coming on the offensive end, and added a blocked shot in his twenty minutes of action.
“We challenged him in the right way and he responded without blinking,” Gates said. “I talked to him and said ‘we need your very best’, and he was able to do that.”
The win marks the first time in nearly 10 years that Missouri has won a road game against an ACC opponent. It last happened when the Tigers beat NC State on Dec. 28,2013.
The Tigers will now head home and prepare for their next matchup, a battle with the Wichita State Shockers at Mizzou Arena on Dec. 3. Tip-off is set for 2 P.M.
Edited by Chase Gemes | cgemes@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Grace Knight | gknight@themaneater.com