NCAAB Game Recap - Morehead State at Missouri
Sat Dec 29, 2018 2:00 PM EST

TNTec
53
Tenn
96
F
E MI
63
Kansas
87
F
Nev
86
Utah
71
F
NIU
60
MSU
88
F
NFla
49
Aub
95
F
HiPt
64
OhSt
82
F
David
60
UNC
82
F
Wisc
76
W Ky
83
F
KY
71
Lou
58
F
Princ
67
AzSt
66
F
BYU
81
MissSt
103
F
Buff
87
Canis
72
F
NJIT
59
Hou
80
F
Bry
67
Iowa
72
F
PVAM
62
Winth
76
F
Woff
74
WCU
54
F
Copp
56
ND
63
F
How
67
GTown
102
F
IPFW
84
UND
73
F
SDak
65
NDSU
71
F
ArkPB
63
Troy
71
F
FlaAM
65
Mem
96
F
FaDi
54
SoFL
60
F
Hamp
80
StPet
83
F(OT)
UMBC
52
PSU
74
F
(N/A)
69
GASt
117
F
Longw
110
Citad
94
F
Mercer
67
Harv
71
F
TNSt
76
Vand
95
F
(N/A)
63
Nich
88
F
SCla
79
WaSt
71
F
(N/A)
92
HCU
143
F
McMur
40
AbCh
88
F
Amer
67
GrgWas
71
F(OT)
(N/A)
61
Valpa
97
F
Penn
45
Toled
77
F
CAPoly
54
Sien
75
F
SwMN
38
Nebras
79
F
(N/A)
80
UNCA
63
F
Xav
74
DeP
65
F
DelSt
57
Ball
116
F
TXAMC
59
OkSt
69
F
MorSt
61
Mizzu
75
F
FlGlf
57
Miss
87
F
ARMon
67
UAB
75
F
UMassL
100
SacHr
91
F(OT)
GWebb
73
Wake
69
F
StBon
48
Syr
81
F
Merrim
57
StJos
59
F
Maris
56
Hartfo
65
F
ChBap
58
Lamar
122
F
Maine
55
Rut
70
F
N TX
103
Rice
87
F
Norf
75
Niag
83
F
FAU
73
Ill
71
F(OT)
VMI
68
Samf
96
F
(N/A)
70
Drake
98
F
TXSo
88
TAMU
73
F
GaSo
90
Dayt
94
F
Coker
69
USC-Up
89
F
Colg
54
Pitt
68
F
MTSt
92
S UT
62
F
Mont
86
NoAZ
73
F
(N/A)
67
UTSA
70
F
Rich
91
USA
82
F
(N/A)
51
RobM
108
F
Campbl
62
Mia-FL
73
F
Butl
43
Fla
77
F
Furm
56
ETSU
79
F
Belm
62
Purd
73
F
UL
73
SeLA
72
F
HowPa
29
TxSt
105
F
Chat
72
UNCG
85
F
USM
56
LaTec
71
F
Web
84
E WA
72
F
Reinh
77
JSU
109
F
Lib
73
UCLA
58
F
(N/A)
63
Wyo
65
F
Radf
64
MD
78
F
(N/A)
72
E KY
145
F
NOrl
44
Baylor
84
F
Charl
73
UNCW
66
F
Oreg
62
Bois
50
F
UtVal
64
Fres
60
F
Miles
57
JackSt
61
F
Stony
73
NrthIA
63
F
CenCT
59
OrSt
80
F
Seatt
82
Cal
73
F
(N/A)
82
Murr
110
F
(N/A)
62
ArkSt
87
F
SJSU
45
StMar
75
F
Brown
82
SDSU
61
F
WIGB
92
WIMil
82
F
GMas
58
KSU
59
F
StJon
74
Seton
76
F
Portl
64
CS-Ful
79
F
(N/A)
46
CBU
97
F
USF
71
UCSB
73
F
UCIrv
75
Pacif
84
F(OT)
Morg
86
CSNor
94
F
GrCan
58
USD
61
F
IdaSt
72
Ida
55
F
N CO
70
Sac
65
F
LongB
86
Stan
93
F
AlaAM
63
HI
71
F

Dec 29, 2018, 2:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

T

Morehead State

22

39

61

Missouri

45

30

75

Missouri ends perfect month with victory over Morehead State
Sat Dec 29, 2018 5:46 PM

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) New school, better jump shot for Mark Smith. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 22 points to lead Missouri to a 75-61 victory over Morehead State on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

Smith, the Southeastern Conference's most accurate 3-point shooter at 46.2 percent, made 4 of 9 shots from long range against the Eagles in what has become a pretty typical showing. That's a big improvement for a player who averaged 5.8 points and made just 23.2 percent of his 3-point attempts as a freshman at Illinois before he transferred to Missouri.

"It's due to hard work this summer," Smith said. "I see it paying off in games. I haven't tweaked my shot at all. I guess I'm more focused mentally."

Jordan Geist scored 20 points and Kevin Puryear added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers (9-3). If Smith's transformation has been a pleasant surprise for Missouri fans, it hasn't startled his teammates.

"The way the man comes in here and puts up shots and gets in extra work, I'm not surprised at all," Geist said.

Smith was coming off a rare bad night. He scored just five points as he was booed lustily by fans of his former team as Missouri beat Illinois on Dec. 22. He had no such trouble against Morehead State (4-9). Smith hit his first two 3-pointers to give the Tigers an 8-2 lead. The advantage grew to as many as 28 points before Missouri carried a 45-22 lead into halftime.

Led by A.J. Hicks, who scored 18 points, the Eagles worked their way back into the game in the second half. Hicks made a 3-pointer with 8:30 remaining to cut the deficit to 59-51.

"I was really proud of the fact we kept fighting and stuck together," Morehead State coach Preston Spradlin said. "That's the sign of a good team, when you do that. They're trusting each other and continuing to battle. Cutting it to eight against a good Missouri team in an environment like this is a great positive for us."

Jordan Walker scored 12 points and Lamontray Harris added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Morehead State.

The rally ended after a dead-ball technical foul was called on Hicks after a brief altercation with Geist with 5:33 left. Geist made the two free throws, Missouri was awarded the ball and Torrence Watson scored off an offensive rebound to give the Tigers a 67-53 lead.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The big early lead and Tilmon's foul trouble gave Martin a chance to give sophomore forward K.J. Santos extended minutes. Santos, a transfer from the University of Illinois-Chicago, had played a total of 12 minutes this season while he battled a foot injury. He logged 20 minutes, scored two points - his first of the season - and grabbed four rebounds against the Eagles.

"We tried to give him a lot of minutes to get his legs under him running the floor," coach Cuonzo Martin said. "Defensively, we feel like he's there. Offensively, he has to be more assertive."

Morehead State: Hicks has been one of the nation's better distributors. He entered the game averaging 5.5 assists, which ranked 46th nationally. Hicks finished with four assists against Missouri as he took on more of a scoring role.

MISSING IN ACTION

Missouri's Jeremiah Tilmon, a 6-foot-10 sophomore forward, had scored in double figures six straight times entering Saturday's game against a team whose tallest regular contributor is 6-7. Tilmon was a nonfactor against Morehead State, finishing with four points, two rebounds and four turnovers before fouling out in just 12 minutes of action.

The Eagles double-teamed Tilmon each time he touched the ball.

"We don't have anyone who can match up with him," Spradlin said. "Few teams will. He should be an All-SEC guy. We knew we would have to give something up if we were keying on him so heavily with our lack of size. It was important that you could take away someone like him that you don't have the answer for, but with their balance, they made shots when we helped off on him."

ANYBODY'S GUESS

Freshman guard Christian Guess arrived at Missouri late and left early. Guess, who enrolled at MU in mid-September, has left the team and plans to transfer.

"Wonderful young man, but he's no longer part of the program," Martin said. "Often when kids are transferring, it's not a good thing, but this is a mutual-respect relationship, and we're doing everything in our power to help him. . It's just about him finding an opportunity to play and be happy."

Guess, a native of Cleveland, participated in only one game for the Tigers.

UP NEXT

Missouri: The Tigers will take an extended break before opening Southeastern Conference play at home against Tennessee on Jan. 8.

Morehead State: The Eagles open Ohio Valley Conference play on Thursday at Murray State.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Leaders

Morehead State PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
A. Hicks 18 0 4 3 0 1
J. Walker 12 0 0 0 1 0
Missouri PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
M. Smith 22 0 2 7 2 0
J. Geist 20 0 2 5 3 0

Team Comparison

MorSt Mizzu
Points For 61 75
Field Goals 20/50-40% 25/58-43%
Three Pointers 4/19-21% 11/31-35%
Free Throws 17/26-65% 14/16-88%
Offensive Rebounds 10 9
Defensive Rebounds 23 26
Rebounds 34 38
Blocks 3 2
Steals 3 6
Turnovers 13 14
Personal Fouls 19 24
Technical Fouls 1 0
Ejections 0 0

2018-19 Reg Season - Mizzu Leads Series 1-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Sat Dec 29 MorSt 61 @ Mizzu 75 A. Hicks 18 M. Smith 22

Game Information

Stadium: Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Missouri
Attendance: 11,458
Game Time: