Jackson State men's basketball knocks off Missouri for first win of the season
Jackson State guard Chase Adams hit the game-winning jump shot with three seconds left as JSU beat host Missouri 73-72 Sunday for its first win of the season.
"We competed, we competed," Jackson State coach Mo Williams said. "It came down to the stretch and we gave ourselves a chance to win. We came up with a big bucket."
The winning shot happened after Missouri's Nick Honor missed his first free throw, with the score tied at 70. Williams called a timeout and drew up a play, one that he said the team executed to perfection.
Williams said guard Ken Evans Jr., who scored 22 points, has been huge on the road trip and has made winning plays this season. Jordan O'Neal, a transfer from Alabama State, scored 18 points, and guard Coltie Young had 14.
"To beat an SEC opponent on the road," Williams said, "not to mention this is 15 days straight on the road since Nov. 5. To have that performance from multiple guys, O'Neal going 8-for-11 from the field and Young bouncing back from a few tough games that he has had and to hit some big shots for us and to make his free throws and continue to be aggressive was huge for us."
Williams said the key to the victory was committing fewer turnovers, and forcing Missouri to commit 18.
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"This is a signature win for us," he said. "We beat SMU last year and they are considered more of a mid-major than a Power Five just because of the conference. You beat an SEC team, a Missouri team that is not going to be at the bottom but an upper-echelon team in the SEC.
"That win will bode well for us down the stretch. That's a big win for us, our morale, our guys, we needed that. . . . This is what we live for."
Jackson State (1-5) will play at Georgetown (3-2) on Saturday at Capital One Arena at 1 p.m. It will be the seventh of 13 games that the Tigers are playing on the road.
Missouri falls to 3-2.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson State basketball knocks off Missouri for first win of season
