Throughout the past week, Dennis Gates kept teasing his rookies.
The Missouri basketball coach said he kept approaching the talented trio and asking if they were nervous. All those stars and all McDonald’s All-American accolades don’t make them any more robotic, after all. Tuesday night was still their first collegiate action.
But, nervous? Certainly didn’t look like it.
Jason Crowe Jr. couldn’t stop grinning.
“I was trying not to smile throughout the whole game,” Crowe said. “I couldn’t help it. You know, it was like a little kid in me throughout the whole game. Just finally playing in my first college game, it felt so good, and just to go out and do what we did felt great.”
We’ll wager a few Mizzou fans felt the same way.
Mizzou basketball flew out the gate with a 111-50 win over Cleveland State on Nov. 3 at Mizzou Arena. The 61-point victory was the Tigers’ largest margin of win in a season-opener in program history, and Crowe’s 23 points were the most for a freshman in their MU debut.
We’ll pump the brakes on telling you to book hotels to see the Tigers (1-0) for the Final Four this coming April in Detroit. Mizzou has bigger and better opponents (and soon) than Cleveland State (0-1).
The good news, this year, is that we won’t have to wait long to find out whether or not Mizzou’s dominant night over a massively overmatched mid-major minnow was fool’s gold. The Tigers face Saint Louis on Friday night. That’ll tell us a lot about how quickly this talented squad has come together.
What we are willing to say is that the five months between now and March are going to be entertaining.
The rookies get the bulk of the credit for providing the opening night thrills.
Crowe, the all-time leading scorer in California high school history, was sublime. Shotmaking, as billed.
He wasn’t allowed to use a pick and roll this summer, something Crowe thanked Gates for after connecting on a slew of catch-and-shoot looks on his debut, finishing 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 9-of-16 from the field.
If Toni Bryant, another five-star newcomer out of Tampa, Florida, was feeling any nerves early, he didn’t show it. Bryant drilled a trio of triples, swatted two shots and got up remarkably high to steal an entry pass in the paint … all before the game went to its first media timeout, or in the opening four minutes of the game.
In his debut, Bryant finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
“I think he’s special, man. Tony is a very special and efficient player,” Gates said. “He doesn’t need the ball in his hand to get in every category of the stat sheet. I think when you look at him making shots, that’s half the battle. But what he’s more proud of is his defensive effort, his ability to alter shots, not just block shots, but also his ability to rebound. He’s very versatile.”
Stars of the show, certainly.
But perhaps not even the reason that this offense’s ceiling is so remarkably high.
How about Mark Mitchell?
The fifth-year senior, currently (but not yet permanently) eligible after battling the NCAA in a court in Kentucky for the past three months, showed off another side to his game that elevates Mizzou immeasurably.
Early in the second half, Mitchell was at the elbow with just a single Cleveland State player between the forward and the rim. That’s Mitchell’s go zone; where the forward, who has led MU in scoring for each of his two seasons in Columbia, thrives.
Then … he flipped a pass out to the top of the key, where BYU transfer Kennard Davis Jr. dropped a catch-and-shoot triple.
Interesting, right?
The decision, pass instead of drive, tracks with something Gates said Monday while previewing the season. Missouri has scoring options — and versatile scoring options. Mitchell does not need to lead Mizzou in scoring every night this year.
Mitchell tied his career-high with that assist to Davis, which was his ninth of the night. There were more than 16 minutes left in the ballgame. Mitchell got to 10 assists on opening night before taking his leave — reaching the career-high double-digit mark on an alley-oop lob to Bryant, no less.
“Mark knows his role is completely (different) than his role was last year, and I think everybody can see what he’s naturally gifted at,” Gates said. “I had to put him in a headlock, twist his arm for him to be a go-to guy and score. … He knows how to pass. He led the conference in the SEC, obviously, in assist-to-turnover ratio as a 6-9 forward.”
If Mitchell can maintain that level of distribution, Missouri’s offense has a fascinating new gear it can reach.
And Mitchell can still score, by the way. He had a double-double on his return with 11 points.
Seven total Tigers reached double-digits, and Gates said he felt like all seven are essentially starting caliber. The size and athleticism on the team is outrageous. Mitchell was the second-smallest player in the starting lineup at 6 foot 9.
So, will Missouri be good? Challenge for titles and make a March run? That, we’re afraid, we can’t say yet. Day 1 looked good, but there’s not much more to extrapolate from a mid-major mauling.
But the Tigers will sure make the journey fun.
“I feel like it’s surreal, just going out there for warmups and seeing all the fans,” Crowe said. “Coming to the games last year, that’s why I wanted to play in this environment, and I feel like I thrived in it.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Is Mizzou basketball good? Time will tell, but the Tigers are certainly fun
