Seton Hall defeats Mizzou basketball in Kansas City as Tigers' late push falls short

KANSAS CITY — Missouri had not made the two-hour trip west from Columbia since 2019. The return wasn't inspiring.

Seton Hall made light work of Missouri men’s basketball for most of Sunday, and managed to hold off a late MU surge to defeat the Tigers 93-87 in the neutral-site game at T-Mobile Center. Missouri made life difficult down the closing stretch, cutting what was once a 19-point lead down to four with 20 seconds to go.

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It rained 3s in the City of Fountains, as forward Al-Amir Dawes led the Pirates with 24 points and four of their season-high 10 makes from behind the arc.

Here are three takeaways from MU’s loss in KC:

Perimeter defense disappears

In a two-point game, the hammer blow landed without much of a challenge.

Seton Hall forward Dre Davis, unguarded on the wing, knocked down an open-as-they-come 3. Twenty-nine seconds later, Dylan Addae-Wusu followed that up with an uncontested look from just about where Davis’ footprints would have been. Davis made it 3 of 3 a minute later, this time a step closer to the corner but all without a golden jersey in the area code, to hand Seton Hall a 10-point cushion early on in the second half.

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The Pirates rode that wave home.

Dennis Gates had mentioned midweek that the Pirates could shoot when required.

He wasn't wrong, but his team also didn't do much about it.

Seton Hall was already shooting more than 60% from the field before it started raining open 3s. Shaheen Holloway's team, Gates also warned, is at its strongest when it attacks the paint.

But Missouri's perimeter defense was caught lacking far too often, and the Pirates took advantage to the tune of double-digit makes from behind the arc.

Problems up close

When there was space, Missouri made it count.

MU freshman Anthony Robinson II faked a pass to the wing, sent a defender searching, set himself, shot and scored from the top of the key. Tamar Bates was lethal from deep, dropping his first three 3-point attempts. Nick Honor, Sean East II and two other Tigers ended the game with a make from deep.

But when Seton Hall shut the space … all bets were off for the Mizzou O’.

Seton Hall couldn’t completely shut the Tigers down on the offensive end. The Tigers were 10 of 19 from deep heading into the game's final four minutes, down eight points.

But when they weren't getting or creating the time and space to get deep shots away, the Pirates all but closed down the driving lanes. The Pirates outscored the Tigers by double-digits in the paint.

The Tigers made a late run at the Pirates, but it was far too little, far too late.

Bates impresses in hometown

Among the few positives from Sunday: The hometown kid.

Missouri guard Tamar Bates, a Kansas City, Kansas, native, had the midas touch from deep, knocking down all of his four attempts from 3. He was involved in each of the Tigers’ opening 10 points, dropping a contested 3 from the wing, making another from the corner. He took a feed from Connor Vanover for a layup in the paint, and then returned the favor moments later.

Bates, in his home city, did just about everything else on offense to keep the Tigers within touching distance for as long as he could. Even when the game looked dead and buried, with Seton Hall up 13 with five minutes to play, he made a corner 3 to spark some life into the otherwise flailing Tigers.

Bates finsihed the game with a team-high 22 points. The Indiana transfer had 15 points at the half, going 5-of-8 from the field.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Seton Hall defeats Mizzou in Kansas City as Tigers' late push falls short