Gordo ranks area hoops: Missouri flexes offensive depth, SIUE earns road wins
The Missouri Tigers remain a work in progress while coach Dennis Gates sorts his pile of players during the soft portion of his schedule.
But these things seem clear: The 2024 transfer class should work out much better than the '23 class, and the key incoming freshmen are better as well.
A year ago top transfer John Tonje never gained traction due to injury. Now he is tearing it up at Wisconsin, averaging 23.5 points at Wisconsin.
Had he and fellow transfer Caleb Grill stayed healthy at Mizzou, odds are the Tigers would not have gone 0-18 on Southeastern Conference play.
Center Conor Vanover lacked the athleticism to play at the SEC level, reaffirming what he showed while at Arkansas. Jesus Carralero Martin and Curt Lewis also proved they have mid-major ceilings.
This transfer class produced a go-to player in forward Mark Mitchell. While Iowa transfer Tony Perkins is still finding his legs due to nagging injury, guard Marques Warrick appears ready to get buckets at this level.
Jacob Crews at least offers a 3-point threat, which Carralero Martin did not offer last season, and center Josh Gray provides the inside muscle the team lacked a season ago.
With freshmen Annor Boateng and Marcus Allen physically prepared to contribute – unlike Jordan Butler and Trent Pierce last season – the Tigers are better one through 13 than a year ago.
As overmatched as Mississippi Valley State is this year, last year's team would not have run up a 111-39 score on the Delta Devils. This year's team kept pouring it on by taking mostly good shots, generally taking care of the ball, and letting their talent play.
Perkins got the night off to rest a nagging leg injury and the Tigers still suffered no fall-off through 40 minutes.
Of course, Gates still must prove he can leverage this depth to build a viable SEC-caliber team. He must find player combinations that click so the Tigers can play small or big, fast or slow depending on the opponent.
Also, Missouri must learn to defend at a much higher level than they showed against Eastern Washington.
Elsewhere in the region, SLU got healthier, SIU Edwardsville enjoyed a huge week while earning three valuable road victories, and Missouri State earned a notable program reestablishing win for Cuonzo Martin.
Here is how the region's Division basketball teams stacked up after the first week of play:
ILLINOIS (3-0)
After blasting Eastern Illinois and SIUE to open the season, the Fighting Illini sputtered offensively during an sloppy 66-54 victory over Oakland at home Wednesday night. Kasparas Jakucionis did not look like a potential NBA lottery pick while turning the ball over five times and missing all three of his 3-point attempts. Illinois shot 7-for-25 from beyond the arc, hit just 41.9 percent of their shots from the floor and turned the ball over 18 times. Fortunately, center Tomislav Ivisic starred with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals. Afterward, Underwood offered a circumspect assessment of his team: "We're starting to understand what winning looks like. Winning is hard. It's not easy. Winning can come in a lot of different ways. I go back to the Ole Miss exhibition and a game we played a lot of people, we didn't make any changes, we were just trying to stick to a very basic script and yet it was the tenacity, it was the desire, it was the want to, it was all the little things we didn't do and now we're starting to do. I'm so ecstatic with our guys tonight. It wasn't pretty. We found a way to win ugly. We did that with gritty defense and very few mistakes on that end." But the Illini has work to with Alabama up next on their schedule.
SLU (2-1)
The Billikens threatened to blow out Loyola Marymount at home Saturday night, but they hung on for a 77-71 victory instead. Gibson Jimerson and Isaiah Swope did their thing, scoring 23 points each, and Kalu Anya stepped up with 13 rebounds and five assists with Robbie Avila still sidelined with his ankle injury. Guard Kobe Johnson continued working his way back from a shoulder injury while playing 18 minutes in his Billikens debut. Coach Josh Schertz is still developing his supporting cast, so he had to be pleased with the 16 solid minutes Creighton transfer Joshia Dotzler gave him in the backcourt.
MISSOURI (3-1)
The Tigers struggled to finish off the well-coached Eastern Washington Eagles at home Monday, but they held on to win 84-77 Monday thanks to Grill's 33-point outburst. The Tigers allowed 44 points in the second half with some terrible on-ball and off-ball defense, but Grill's 8-for-10 shooting from 3-point range made the difference. Against undermanned Mississippi Valley State, Gates used 14 players with 11 playing double-digit minutes and seven scoring in double figures. With Perkins held out, Warrick scored 16 points and dished four assists in 27 minutes. Boateng played 25 minutes and produced 10 points, three rebounds and two steals. Allen had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.
SIU EDWARDSVILLE (4-2)
The Cougars took to the road to win at Indiana State 77-72 Tuesday before heading to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a multi-team event. SIUE routed the host school Western Michigan 79-60 Friday, then they handled Canisius 76-58 on Saturday before moving on to play at Green Bay Tuesday. It's early, but this could become coach Brian Barone's best team during his tenture. Graduate guard Ray'Sean Taylor, who is averaging 18.2 points per game, lit up Western Michigan for 30 points on 8-for-16 shooting from 3-point range. When the Broncos were trying to muster a second-half rally, Taylor broke their spirit with a couple of timely treys from Steph Curry range. Ray'Sean's cousin Brian Taylor II did the heavy lifting against Canisius with 23 points. Fifth-year guard Desmond Polk has also assumed a bigger offensive role this season; he scored 31 points in the victories in Kalamazoo.
MISSOURI STATE (2-1)
The Bears delivered quick results during Martin's coaching return. Cuonzo had to build a roster almost from scratch, yet it's coming along quickly. After playing Butler tough on the road and routing Division II neighbor Missouri Southern at home earlier this season, they outlasted Tulsa 111-106 in a triple overtime thriller Saturday. Three Bears fouled out, but the Bears had a enough depth to prevail. Cuonzo's son Chase played 44 minutes off the bench and scored 18 points as one of seven Missouri State players in double figures against the Golden Hurricane. Michael Osei-Bonsu - a 6-foot-4, 280-pound center – had 17 points and eight rebounds.
SEMO (1-3)
A 93-38 romp over Crowley's Ridge (the NAIA program, not the winery) allowed coach Brad Korn to spread his minutes. Damarion Walkup had the most fun, scoring 23 points in 25 minutes. Then Chattanooga came over from the SoCon Sunday to beat the Redhawks 87-82 Sunday afternoon. The Redhawks hung tough, but they couldn't get defensive stops in the game's final minutes. Our Town's Rob Martin scored 29 points and Teddy Washington Jr. had 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
LINDENWOOD (2-3)
The Lions struggled at a multi-team event hosted by Robert Morris University. They lost to New Orleans 82-74 Friday despite getting 14 points and nine rebounds from freshman forward Jadis Jones. They fell to the host school 67-53 on Saturday while shooting 35.2 percent from the floor. Then they salvaged something from their trip Back East by edging Stonehill College 75-74 Sunday behind Anias Futrell's 24 points and 11 rebounds.
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