PowerMizzou – Missouri can’t get past Princeton, ending the season unexpectedly

Sacramento, California – Princeton did what no other midseason team did for Missouri all season. They both slowed down Kobe Brown And De Moy HodgeAs the team’s leading scorer, he held the duo to 14 combined points on 6–19 shooting. He took care of the ball, hitting it just nine times against a Mizzou team whose forced turnover averaged 16.9 per game.

I beat No. 7 tiger seeds. MU went into Saturday’s game 12-0 against teams outside the SEC this year. They exited the game 12-1, falling to no. 15 ranked Ivy League Tigers inside Gold 1, 78-63.

I give credit (Princeton coach) Mitch Henderson and his group. They did a great job not only in our game, even in the previous game,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates He said. “But they took some shots. They did some great things. But I love my group. We don’t get judged by one game. I will keep saying that with adamance. But we definitely have to give credit to our opponents for the great game they played.”

Princeton (23-8, 10-4 Ivy League) mostly did what it wanted on offense to start the game. Missouri overstretched many of its closing spots, either leaping into the air to contest a 3-pointer or running out of control, allowing Princeton to use its pump-and-go engines to get to the edge. great guard Ryan Langborg He scored 11 of the team’s first 13 points, sank three and gave the Ivy League Tigers a six-point lead. Mizu was never able to recover.

MU struggled aggressively as well. Big striker Noah Carter He found some success early on, hitting a three-and-one and two inside the arc for the team’s first seven points of the game. But no one can find a rhythm.

Princeton’s forwards smashed the paint any time the Browns got the ball at the post. The big forward has seen double block teams all season – nothing he hasn’t experienced before. But unlike many other times, he couldn’t find his way through it.

“They had hands high, so I couldn’t see what was out of position,” Brown said. “A lot of times, teams double down, but they’ve got their hands low, so it’s easier to do than pumps. But they’ve done a good job and put the vision away.”

The team gained some momentum late in the first half. Hodge scored in the second half, big guard Nick Honor 3 shot down from the left corner and fellow senior goalkeeper Sean East II He sank a float at the buzzer to give Mizzou a 7-0 lead and cut the lead to 33-26 before halftime. The team got a spot on their first possession of the second period and volleyed the ball to Brown at the post for a stop to make it a two-goal game again.

But Missouri missed all of its next five field goal attempts, allowing Princeton to zoom in on the lead by 12 in a media timeout of the under-16s. The SEC Tigers cut the lead to single digits twice more in the second half, but the Ivy League Tigers put out every spark MU tried to ignite.

“We held the lead for about 30 seconds the entire game,” Gates said. “Every time we got the lead or when they were leading, we cut it to six, they would step back and do what a good team would do: punt or play. It wasn’t just our day to make those plays or make those same shots.”

Carter finished the night with 14 points, trailing only the senior guard DeAndre Holston Among Mizzou’s players, who scored 19. It was a disappointing end for a team that ended a 13-year drought in the NCAA Tournament and won 25 games all season. But Gates does not want to forget what his team has accomplished. They will always be the Tigers that made Missouri basketball relevant again – a team filled with middle and junior college transfers that were picked to finish 11th in the preseason SEC poll and accomplished every step of the year.

“When it comes to reflection, I’ve always appreciated my guys from the beginning of our conversations and our journey,” Gates said. “They’ve done a tremendous job. They’ve done everything I asked them to do. They’ve done more, right? What they’ve managed to do together is 20 years from now, we’ll look back, 10 years from now, we’ll look back, five years from now.” Years from now we will look back and see how important they did.”

Saturday was the final college basketball game for Hodge, Golston, and the senior guards Tree Jomillion And Ben Sternberg.

All four players got to know Gates during their time playing in the Horizon League. When Gates is assigned to Mizzou, they trust him for the final year of their eligibility.

Every player played an important role for the Tigers this season: Hodge broke the program’s single season record for steals with 91 and was the team’s second leading scorer with an average of 14.7 points per game. Gholston was the Tigers’ third leading scorer, averaging 10.9 points, and assisted several buckets, including two game winners. Jomillion and Sternberg were team leaders, helping Gates instill his vision of team culture. Jomelion primarily served as an assistant coach while he was injury-plagued throughout the second half of the year. Sternberg became a fan favorite among the team’s walkers by hitting half-court in his first game in a Missouri uniform.

All four players believe Gates can take the program to new heights. They are happy that they were able to be part of the first team that could help him do that. This is what they hope to be remembered for.

“I just want to be remembered as a group of guys who loved each other on and off the field,” Sternberg said. “Obviously, we’ve been together every day in the crib, in the gym. Not only that, but we want to be known as, like, the starting point of Coach (Gates). Coach, it’s obviously his freshman year. We want him to create the culture here.” Now the next teams will follow us.

“I’ll take back what Ben said: build culture,” Hodge said. “Going to Mizzou wasn’t a hard decision for me, especially playing for the coach (Jets) at Cleveland State. Just building the foundation of what we know he can be and what his goals are has been really good. The Mizzou fans who support us and trust us to come here and do what What we’re doing means a lot to the Colombian community. I thank them for embracing me and my team. I appreciate Mizo for that.”

“Same thing: laying the groundwork, rebuilding that culture in Colombia, re-engaging those fans,” Jomillion said. “But just doing the things we did, we never should have been here in the first place. We should have made it to the semi-finals of the SEC. I mean, at the end of the day, we lost today, but we have a lot to be proud of.” with it “.

Missouri was slammed inside in the first half of its game against Princeton. The Ivy League Tigers were able to get through Mizzou’s front line defense, drawing a defender who helps on the weak side and finding an open man who runs to the edge for points. Gates cents in junior forward Mohamed Diarra to change that.

The senior from Montreuil, France, has gone through six matches without scoring a block. But on Saturday, he did his part well, changing several shots in the paint and dismissing two. It gave the 6-foot-10 forward momentum to build upon entering an off-season as the Jets will try to develop him into a more consistent role.

“The only thing I can say about Mohamed is that he’s going to play as hard as he can, whether that’s scoring the ball or just playing defense or receiving blocks,” Brown said. “He will be present at all times.”

Missouri finished the season at 25-10 overall and 11-7 in conference play. The Gates are slated to bring in a freshman college senior who was ranked in the top three JUCOREcruiting.comThree freshmen were ranked in the top 150 Rivals.com And two newbies. The Tigers have nine players on scholarship with at least one year of eligibility remaining — Gates will wait to see how many leave the pro leagues or enter the transfer gate before making any additions to his class of 2023.

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