No. 4 Alabama too much for Missouri in the second half | Mizzou Men’s Basketball

“You can’t give them these buckets of energy to defeat this team (Alabama). Whether it’s 3 points and free throws,” Gates said.

The momentum favored the visiting team early in the final 20 minutes as the Crimson Tide started on a 6-0 run and Missouri missed their first five shots before Isiaih Mosley ended the goal drought nearly three minutes after halftime.

“The trend of Alabama is this. … They run at the end of the first and at the beginning of the second,” Gates said. “That’s how they’ve always played and we haven’t mitigated it at all.”

Behind Mosley, the Tigers were able to keep up with Alabama early on in front of a sold out Mizzou Arena. Trailing 9-2 early on, the Tigers got a boost from Mosley as the Rock Bridge alum picked up his first points on a driver layup. On the Tigers’ next offensive trip, a Mosley jumper cut the Tide’s lead to three points. A minute later, Mosley’s third 2 made it a one-point contest.

After two free throws from DeAndre Gholston, Mosley lobbed an alley-oop reverse dunk on Aidan Shaw to give Missouri their first lead of the night, 14-13.

Gates had planned to put Shaw in the starting XI after a good week of practice. He made his first start while a familiar face in Kobe Brown suffered a late scrape from an ankle injury.

“I was just wary of Kobe Brown,” Gates said. The team watched Brown warm up before making the decision.

Shaw, the Blue Valley product, appeared with D’Moi Hodge, Nick Honor, Tre Gomillion and Noah Carter to start the game and forced a jump ball onto opening possession. Despite only scoring two points, Shaw finished as one of two Tigers on a positive plus-minus. He was worth MU +12.

“I’m proud that he’s in a trial and he’s embracing the trial,” Gates said. “We’ve seen him practice in a different light and it’s part of the process, part of his journey.”

Mosley collected another made jumper and gave the Tigers their biggest lead, 16-13. Mosley led the Tigers with eight first-half points and four rebounds and an assist and a block.

“I think Isiaih can help us hit the ball,” said Nick Honor. “He knows how to get a bucket whenever he wants and you can see him getting comfortable every day.”

Even without Brown, Missouri showed they could keep up with Alabama in the first half as the two teams traded shots. Seven out of ten available Tigers scored in the first half, including seven points from Gholston and four from Gomillion.

As for Alabama, Mark Sears and Brandon Miller led the way for the visitors in the first half.

The Crimson Tide’s 3-point shooting came alive in the second half as they downed four of their first 10 shots.

The second half turned into a running game as Alabama extended their second-half lead to as high as 21 points. Missouri didn’t go away quietly as Mosley and Sean East II led a brief Tigers surge that cut the lead to 13.

Rylan Griffen quickly ended the Tigers’ momentum with the Crimson Tide’s fifth 3-pointer at halftime. Free throws from Clowney helped bring the lead back to 18 with less than eight minutes of play. Clowney led the Crimson Tide by 17 points. He was joined by double-digit Miller (15), Sears (14) and Quinerly (13).

Mosley finished the game with a game-high 19 points while Mohamed Diarra added eight points and 12 rebounds. Diarra didn’t start when Carter appeared in the lineup, but Gates was impressed with his performance throughout the night.

“I didn’t want to put Mo in this position just yet. I thought he was finally getting a rhythm and I didn’t want him to disrupt that rhythm that Mo had established,” Gates said. “So when he came out and had 12 rebounds I thought that would be a highlight, I thought that was wonderful to see.”

The Oats team returns home Wednesday at 8 p.m. to take on Mississippi State.

Missouri (14-5, 3-4) travels to Oxford, Mississippi, Tuesday at 6 p.m. to face a struggling Mississippi squad.