Missouri made just one field goal in the in the game’s first nine minutes Saturday. The Tigers went down by 13 and were shooting 2-11 from the field.
When freshman guard Jakeenan Gant entered the game, he sent a shockwave through the Tiger offense and the Mizzou Arena.
“He gave us a big spark,” senior guard Keith Shamburger said. “He’s a big part of our team.”
But that spark would only last so long.
The Tigers fell to Xavier 58-74 Saturday at the Mizzou Arena. Mizzou fell back to .500 at 5-5, while Xavier improved to 8-2 on the season.
After being greeted with a large applause from over 7,000 in attendance, Gant hit his first jumper, knocked down two free throws, blocked a shot on defense, and sunk a three-pointer. Gant finished the game with 13 points in just 15 minutes.
“He played extremely well today,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. “It’s great to have him back.”
Gant, Georgia’s “Mr. Basketball” and Mizzou’s highest ranked class of 2014 recruit, had been held out for the season’s first nine games while the university investigated his eligibility.
Anderson was impressed by how comfortable Gant was when inserted into his game.
“He came in and kind of fit right in,” Anderson said. “He was aggressive offensively, but he wasn’t selfish. When he had shots, he took them, and he made them.”
Two Tiger starters had their fair share of struggles in the game. Both junior forward Ryan Rosburg and freshman guard Montaque Gill-Caesar went scoreless in the first half. They finished the game with a combined six points, four coming from Gill-Caesar, who shot 2-10 from the field. Another starter, freshman guard Namon Wright, had only two points to his name.
Yet, the Tigers found themselves down by just five at halftime after a Johnathan Williams III floater at the buzzer.
“We got there and we had chances,” Anderson said. “The next step is converting them. It’s a positive that we fought back, but we couldn’t get over the hump.”
Junior forward Williams III was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 17 points. He was one rebound shy of his second double-double of the season.
Anderson was called for a technical seven minutes into the second half for arguing on a no-call for what he thought was a foul on Rosburg. Xavier sophomore guard Myles Davis knocked down both of the following free throws.
“I just thought I needed to make a point,” Anderson said. “I obviously made it too vociferously. I don’t know if it was a good technical or a bad technical. I’m a competitor. I think in a way I was trying to fire my team up.”
Shamburger said he was not surprised to see his coach so animated, as sees that from his coach every practice.
“I like to have a coach who has your back like that,” Shamburger said.
With Mizzou down by three with 13 minutes left, Xavier took off and ended the game going on a 34-21 run. Mizzou faced a 12-point deficit with seven minutes remaining in the game, and 19 just a few minutes later.
“We didn’t make a lot of great plays down the stretch when they made the run,” Williams III said.
Xavier finished the game going 8-18 from three-point range, meanwhile the Tigers made just one in 16 attempts, good for a 6.3 percent clip. The one made three-pointer came from Gant. Coming into Saturday, Mizzou had been shooting nearly 40 percent from three-point range.
Next up for Mizzou is the Bud Light Bragging Rights game against Illinois. The Tigers will face the Illini (7-2) Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. in the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
“We can’t put our heads down,” Shamburger said, seemingly fighting back tears. “We have got to keep going from here and keep trying to get better. We’ve got a better team playing next Saturday.”