(Photo Credit: Clayton Hotze- MUTigers.com)
The Missouri Tigers fell back to .500 after dropping a home contest to Xavier 74-58. The Tigers continue to struggle this season under new head coach Kim Anderson and the young freshman laded class.
Johnathan Williams III was the high scorer for Missouri leading the team with 17 points and nine rebounds. Jakeenan Gant played also played in his first game of the year since being reinstated tallying 13 points.
Missouri struggled throughout the first half failing to capitalize on shots and quickly found themselves in a 20-9 hole at the under eight media timeout. Gant provided a boost to the team coming off the bench registering seven points, a rebound, and added a block in his first five minutes of action.
The Tigers rode a 5-0 run to close out the first half and trailed the Musketeer’s 32-27 at the break.
Missouri came out of the break on an 8-4 run to close the gap to just a point, but that’s the closest they would come. Xavier’s Dee Davis strong second half allowed the Musketeer’s to pull away down the stretch. Davis finished the game with 17 points four rebounds and four assists.
The Tigers inconsistent shooting remained a major factor for the team’s poor performance as they shot 38 percent from the field and an atrocious six percent from behind the arc.
With the loss Missouri moves to 5-5 on the season and 4-2 at home. The Tigers look to turn things around when they take on Illinois in the annual bragging’ rights game next Saturday in St. Louis.
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