Bates, Robinson lead Mizzou to victory over LSU

The win marks MU’s first over an SEC opponent in nearly 22 months.

For the first time in 669 days, Mizzou men’s basketball won a game against an SEC opponent.

Behind a balanced scoring effort and an opportunistic defense, the Tigers knocked off LSU 83-67. It was their first SEC win since March 10, 2023, when MU defeated Tennessee in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

“Simply, put yes,” Tamar Bates said when asked if the win meant a little more due to the long SEC losing streak. “My teammates realized why I was so fired up no matter how much we were up because we just wanted to get that first win as a program.”

Although the Bayou Bengals reinvigorated some interest in the second half, they were never able to get the Mizzou lead below 12 after the 6:32 mark in the first half. A key sequence came in the home stretch of the second half; after LSU cut the lead to 13 with 6:24 left in regulation, Caleb Grill swished a three-pointer from St. Louis, which was followed by Mark Mitchell slamming home a fastbreak dunk to push the lead back to 18. Grill finished with 10 points on a trio of three-pointers, while Mitchell tallied 11 points.

For most of the evening, LSU was flummoxed on offense. The home Tigers were rotating effectively, shutting down driving lanes and forcing a litany of turnovers. LSU finished with 14 giveaways, including 10 in the first half.

“Our guys defended. They communicated. Their energy was available tonight,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “I thought on the road, it was a little disconnected from an energy standpoint, and we weren’t able to get into rhythm.”

MU also came away with 10 steals by six different players. The home Tigers also capitalized on the extra possessions, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. Plus, the road Tigers weren’t unloading a barrage of three-pointers like Auburn did, as they hit just eight triples on the night.

“Defensively, like we always say, we want to be tough, physical and disruptive,” Bates said. “We were definitely able to execute that tonight.”

Offensively, open looks came a lot more frequently than against Bruce Pearl’s squad. Although Mizzou converted often in transition, its half-court offense was much improved. Part of the success was from beyond the arc, as MU shot 12/25 from three-point range. Its 48% clip from three-point range is the highest it’s registered since it tallied the same percentage on the same number of makes against Jacksonville State on Dec. 17.

Arguably the biggest individual bounce-back came from Anthony Robinson II. After going scoreless for the first time this season in just 14 minutes played against Auburn, the sophomore guard scored 16 points, which tied for his second-highest point total of the season. Robinson II was aggressive early and often, and he was rewarded with eight free throw attempts; better yet for Mizzou, Robinson made all of them.

“Every game, I’m coming to bring that energy,” Robinson said. “Trying to win an SEC game was big for us and our program. Just coming out, having a great start, was key to this win.”

Elsewhere in the backcourt, Bates also had a much-improved performance. Following an eight-point outing against Auburn, Bates scored 2- points on an efficient 6/9 shooting from the field. He also registered three steals, including a Daylan Carnell-ian interception that led to an easy two-handed slam.

For the first time this season, Josh Gray came off the bench, as Trent Pierce made just his second start of the season in his place. However, despite Gray going scoreless, he still made a substantial impact on the game, grabbing 10 rebounds for just the second time this season.

“The young man can impact the game without having a basket being made,” Gates said. “Tonight, he had 10 rebounds and zero points. I’ll take that any day of the week. If he can do that every night, there will be a lot of coaches voting for him (for SEC All-Defensive Team) because he’ll impact our team’s ability to win.”

Three days prior, Mizzou got plowed by Auburn in almost every aspect of the game. On Tuesday, MU completely flipped the script. Although conference play is still in its infancy, the Black & Gold picked up a much-needed win, as those will likely be tough to come by in an SEC whose collective goodness is arguably the best of any conference at any point in the history of college basketball.

Mizzou will stay home for its next game, which will come on Saturday against Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m. CST.