Wichita, Kan. – The Missouri men’s basketball continued its best start in nearly a decade, rallying for an 88-84 victory at Wichita State on Tuesday night. With the win, the Tigers remain unbeaten on the year – earning their first road victory of the campaign – while the Shockers drop to 4-3 overall.
Senior Noah Carter (Dubuque, Iowa) led Mizzou with 20 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort – his second 20-point game of the season. Graduate student D’Moi Hodge (Tortola, British Virgin Islands) added 19 points with four assists, while senior Sean East II (Louisville, Ky.) tallied 17 points to go with four assists and two steals.
Graduate students Tre Gomillion (Augusta, Ga.) and Nick Honor (Orlando, Fla.) both added four steals to anchor the Mizzou defense.
The Tigers had the better of the opening 20 minutes of action with a strong finish giving the visitors a seven-point lead. Mizzou led for 15 minutes in the first half and two late turnovers that were converted into five points allowed MU the 43-36 edge at the break.
The second half was a game of runs, however. After Mizzou scored the opening basket to stretch its advantage to nine, Wichita State used a 16-0 run to pull in front by seven, 52-45. The Tigers answered with a 10-2 spurt of their own to go back ahead by one, 55-54, only for the hosts to add another 12-1 stretch for a game-high 10-point lead, 66-56.
Carter and East, however, would take over for the Tigers and lead the team to victory. The duo ignited a 16-5 run to temporarily move in front by a point before the teams finished deadlocked at 75 at the end of 40 minutes of action. The seniors then continued to push the Tigers in the extra frame with the duo scoring the first six points of the period and never looking back en route to the 88-84 overtime win.
When it was all said and done, Carter and East combined for 26 of Mizzou’s final 33 points after the Tigers trailed by 10 points – securing the team’s eighth-straight victory.
Missouri shot 42.3 percent in the winning effort, while forcing the Wichita State defense into 20 turnovers and committing 16 steals for the fourth-straight game.
