No. 21 Mizzou coasts to a win over Oklahoma to snap two-game skid
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team has prided itself on its ability to respond all season long. It's likely one of the reasons that the team hadn't lost two-straight games, before last week's two Top-10 tumbles against Tennessee and Texas A&M.
On Wednesday night, head coach Dennis Gates' team had the response they needed to to snap that two-game losing streak. No. 21 Mizzou routed Oklahoma in a 24-point win, 82-58 to improve to 18-6 on the season and 7-4 in conference play.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Gates and players, along with extended highlights of Wednesday's win, in the slideshow above.
The Tigers kept the Sooners at an arm's length all night long.
Out of the gates, Mizzou got on the board quicker than it had in either of the two Top-10 losses last week, courtesy of a layup from guard Anthony Robinson less than one minute into the action. In fact, before the under eight timeout hit, MU had pushed its lead to 12 points, following a 10-0 run which forced an Oklahoma timeout.
Forward Mark Mitchell started the game like a man on a mission. He recorded 19 first half points on his way to a career-high 25-point night, overall. The night was made better for the junior by also hitting 1,000-career points in the first half.
Mitchell's standout performance in the first 20 minutes of action helped carry the Tigers to a 20-point lead, 44-24, headed into the locker room for halftime.
After the break, Mizzou road that big first half wave to a big victory.
Mitchell (25), guard Caleb Grill (15), guard Tony Perkins (12) and Robinson (10) all finished in double-figures, in Wednesday night's win. However, to no one's surprise, Grill was the most efficient from beyond the arc, as nine of his 15 points came from 3-point range. He currently leads the Southeastern Conference in 3-point percentage, shooting at about a 47 percent clip.
Turnovers turned out to be the game-changer for Coach Gates' team, once again. His group came into the game against the Sooners third in the conference in forced turnovers per game, with 14.7. On Wednesday night, MU forced OU to commit 17 turnovers, as Mizzou capitalized with 16 points off of those miscues.
Up next - the Tigers swill take a road trip to Athens, Georgia to meet the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is slated for 2:30 p.m.
