Explosive offense highlighted No. 15 Missouri’s 1-1 week against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Missouri won its first contest of the week 101-71 against the Gamecocks on Feb. 25. They followed the blowout win with a 97-93 overtime loss to the Commodores on March 1. The Tigers now boast a 10-7 conference record with two games remaining in the regular season. Here are three things that stood out in the Tigers’ past week as the SEC Tournament approaches.

Red Hot From Long Range

Missouri has been shooting 3-pointers at a high volume this season and has shown improved efficiency in its past two games. The Tigers rank 22nd in the nation for total 3-pointers attempted this season. In both matchups, Missouri shot above 40% from deep, up from its season average of 37.6%.

Against South Carolina, the Tigers made 11 3-pointers on 57.9% shooting en route to their fourth 100-point game of the season. Missouri attempted four fewer 3-pointers than the Gamecocks but still managed nine more makes. This was its first time making 10 or more 3-pointers on fewer than 20 attempts in conference play.

In the loss to Vanderbilt, the Tigers made nine 3-pointers on 41% shooting. Sophomore guard Anthony Robinson ll shot a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range on his way to 16 points. Graduate guard Caleb Grill totaled seven 3-point makes on his 17 attempts throughout the two games.

Robinson Coming Back to Form

Early in the season, Robinson showed signs of a breakout sophomore season. Throughout the non-conference slate, he averaged 10.7 points per game but hit a slump through the first half of conference play. After having six straight single-digit scoring outings from the Arkansas to Texas A&M game, Robinson is slowly finding consistency.

Since then, he has scored double figures in five of his last six contests. Robinson poured in 14 points in the victory over South Carolina and followed it up with 16 against Vanderbilt in the next game. Robinson’s impact goes beyond scoring, as he totaled 13 assists and five steals in the two games.

Robinson is staying out of foul trouble, a large reason he is returning to the player fans saw early in the season. Foul trouble became a problem during conference play — in 7 of 16 SEC games, Robinson recorded four or more fouls, limiting his minutes.

“Ant Robinson has to do a better job of getting through those plays and not allowing them to compound,” head coach Dennis Gates said.

Losing the Rebound Battle

Coming into this week, Missouri had only lost the rebound battle five times in conference play, while winning it nine times. The Tigers never had less than 30 rebounds in their SEC matchups until grabbing 27 rebounds against South Carolina and 28 against Vanderbilt. Missouri had its worst differential out of all conference games, as the Commodores out-rebounded the Tigers by 11.

Not only are the Tigers losing the overall rebound battle, but they are also allowing an alarming number of offensive rebounds. They gave up a season-high 18 offensive boards to Vanderbilt, helping them get 12 second-chance points. Despite blowing out South Carolina, the Tigers still allowed 12 offensive rebounds, which led to 20 second-chance points.

After falling in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, the Tigers suffered an upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Drake to put the nail in the coffin on the 2024-25 season.

Edited by Killian Wright | kwright@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Ella McGuire and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com

Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com