Missouri’s loss to North Carolina Central on Monday night was foreshadowed by the game’s first possession.
Sophomore forward Kevin Puryear’s layup was blocked by NCCU’s Will Ransom. Puryear got the rebound, pulled up and missed a jump shot. The Tigers held onto the ball. Seven seconds later, Puryear missed another layup. He got his own rebound and proceeded to miss another jumper, but the Tigers got another offensive rebound.
Sophomore point guard Terrence Phillips then missed a three, but Missouri got yet another offensive rebound. Ransom committed an off-ball foul, keeping the ball with the Tigers. Phillips missed a jumper; Ransom collected the rebound.
When the dust settled and NCCU finally took possession, a minute and six seconds had passed. Mizzou had gathered five offensive rebounds and missed six shots; Puryear alone missed four of those.
“We can’t get off to a good start,” Phillips said after the game.
The first possession was a frustrating start to the game and summed up Mizzou’s night perfectly. The Tigers (3-3) struggled from the floor all game and lost, 62-52, to the Eagles (4-2) at Mizzou Arena.
The Tigers shot 6-of-35 in the first half and 11-of-33 in the second half, finishing at 25 percent for the game. It was Missouri’s worst shooting night at home in the history of Mizzou Arena.
Mizzou coach Kim Anderson was bewildered by his team’s sudden inability to put the ball in the basket.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Anderson said. “I’ve never seen that percentage.”
Especially frustrating was Mizzou’s inability to score from close range.
“I’ve coached and I’ve played, I don’t know how many basketball games; I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen something like I just saw as far as missing so many shots at the basket,” Anderson said.
North Carolina Central coach LeVelle Moton knew his team had benefited from the Tigers’ surprisingly bad shooting percentage.
“Mizzou just missed a bunch of shots,” Moton acknowledged.
His Eagles weren’t too much better. They finished 19-of-52 from the field (36.5 percent), but a key difference in the game was at the foul line.
NCCU made 18 of its 23 free throws; the Tigers made just 11 of 20.
Despite the 17-percent performance in the first half, Mizzou trailed by just four points at halftime, with the score at 24-20. The Tigers fell behind by as much as 12 in the second half, cutting the lead to four with 3:06 left, but couldn’t make it all the way back.
“We had many, many, many chances to come back,” Anderson said. “And we came back, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Phillips was Missouri’s most consistent player Monday night, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from deep. The Tigers’ comeback hopes were nixed when he fouled out with 2:34 left in the second half, having picked up two early fouls in each half.
With Phillips out, Mizzou turned to transfer guard Jordan Geist, who shot 2-of-8 but collected six rebounds and a steal on a nice hustle play.
“It was definitely difficult because we didn’t hit shots,” Geist said of the comeback attempt. “We’re gonna get back at it tomorrow [in practice] making shots, finishing layups.”
The Tigers get to work on their jump shots before Saturday afternoon’s game against Western Kentucky, which tips off at 2 p.m. from Mizzou Arena.
_Edited by Peter Baugh | pbaugh@themaneater.com_