Mizzou mounts second half comeback to beat Cal in ACC/SEC Challenge
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team started off a big month of December with a 98-93 win over head coach Dennis Gates' alma mater, on Tuesday night. The Cal Golden Bears led by as many as 18, at one point, but MU out-shot Cal 63-42 in the second half to get the victory.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Gates and players in the video player below.
The win lifted Mizzou to 7-1 overall to start the 2024-25 campaign.
Going into halftime, things didn't look too good for the Tigers. Gates' crew trailed the Golden Bears 51-35 at the break, but turned it on in the last 20 minutes of action.
After the the break, Mizzou put the pedal to the medal and cut the deficit from 16 to less than 10, courtesy of an 8-0 scoring run out of the locker room.
With a little less than nine minutes left to play, the Tigers had erased their deficit altogether, tying the ball game up at 64 points apiece. Then, shortly after, Mizzou took its first lead in quite some time.
The second half remained a back-and-forth battle, as there were a total of five lead changes in Tuesday night's action. However, Gates' crew out-toughed his alma mater for the win.
MU shot 84 percent from the field in the second half, going 22-for-26 from the floor, compared to a 48 percent performance in the first.
Sophomore guard Anthony Robinson was on fire in the ACC/SEC Challenge win. He scored a career-high and team-high 29 points, which complimented six assists and two steals. Forward Mark Mitchell also had himself a night at Mizzou Arena, as he set a new season high with 21 points, 12 of which came in the second half.
Both guards Tamar Bates and Marques Warrick also got into double-digit scoring in the win.
Up next - the Border Showdown will return to Mizzou Arena. The Tigers will host the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks on Sunday at 12 p.m.
