It took over 36 minutes, but Missouri claimed its first lead with 3:52 remaining in its game against Southeast Missouri State Tuesday.
The Tiger lead came on three-pointer from freshman forward D’Angelo Allen, who shot the ball from top of the key with the shot clock about to expire.
It was Allen’s first three-pointer of his college career. While the shot clock ticked down, senior guard Keith Shamburger yelled for Allen to take the shot.
“He’s got a lot of confidence in himself, and he went out and (hit the three-pointer),” Shamburger said.
The trey put Mizzou up by one, and the Tigers would keep the lead for the rest of the game, defeating SEMO 65-61 Tuesday night at the Mizzou Arena.
The first Tigers’ double-double of the season from sophomore forward Johnathan Williams III helped, too. Williams III finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in his most dominant game of the season thus far.
“He was a problem for us,” SEMO head coach Dickey Nutt said. “He’s just so long and lanky, and he can either get to places with one dribble or one step. He’s pretty crafty.”
Most of Williams III’s points and rebounds came in the second half, following head coach Kim Anderson telling him at halftime to toughen up and “stop being such a nice guy” on the court.
“He got on me a little bit, and I think I needed that,” Williams III said. “I’m not a player who’s not going to listen to my coach. I want to say thanks to coach Anderson for pushing me.”
Williams’ performance came one game after knee tightness forced him to leave play against Chaminade Friday in the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Williams III said the knee is “feeling great.”
“I think tonight I kind of just forgot about the knee and went out and played,” Williams III said. “That’s what I’ve got to continue to do coming off this injury.”
It wasn’t all pretty for Williams III, who missed six free throws on the night. Mizzou went two-for-seven from the line in the first half, including three misses from Williams III.
The Redhawks held a 30-24 lead at halftime despite the Tigers shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half.
Momentum swung in the Tigers’ favor when freshman forward Montaque Gill-Caesar made a stumbling lay up and picked up a foul on the play. He sunk the free throw for the three-point play, and pulled Mizzou within two.
Three-pointers on two consecutive Mizzou possessions by Gill-Caesar knotted the game at 54 just under five minutes to play. Gill-Caesar finished with 15 points , going 2-3 from three-point range.
The Tigers went 8-15 on three-pointers in the game, including 6-7 in the second half. The threes ignited the Mizzou Arena audience of 5,500.
“I give the crowd credit,” Nutt said. “I thought the crowd was a difference maker there when things got a little tight.” Nutt said.
With one minute left, SEMO junior guard Isiah Jones made a long trey to pull the Redhawks within two. But Shamburger responded with a three of his own as the shot clock wound down and 17 seconds were left in the game. It was Shamburger’s third make from deep on the night, and it sealed the win for the Tigers.
“We can’t lose to anymore of these schools out here in Missouri,” Shamburger said. “We lost to UMKC, and that one hurt us. We didn’t want to do that anymore.”
Mizzou was without sophomore guard Wes Clark Tuesday, who was suspended from the team indefinitely by Anderson. The Tiger head coach did not specify what rules Clark violated.
With Clark absent from action, Shamburger found himself on the court for 39 minutes Tuesday. He capitalized with 11 points and shooting 4-5 from the field.
Next up for Mizzou is Oklahoma. They travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to play the Oklahoma Sooners Friday at 8:30 p.m.
“We have such a long way to go as a team,” Anderson said. “You can’t play like we played. You’re not going to win many games if you play like that.”
