Men’s Basketball Falls to Memphis

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri men’s basketball team fell to visiting Memphis, 70-55, on Friday night. The loss drops Mizzou to 1-1, while Memphis remains unbeaten at 2-0.

Graduate Sean East II led the team in scoring with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, as well as chipping in a pair of assists and a steal. Classmate Noah Carter also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Caleb Grill tied his career high in rebounds in the effort, grabbing 10 boards, nine on the defensive side of the ball. 

Mizzou’s sell-out crowd would make their presence felt early as the Tigers quickly moved in front by double digits. Trailing by a point, 11-10, the Tigers used a 19-4 spurt in under six minutes for a 29-15 advantage. East scored 10 points during the stretch as MU made 8-of-9 shots in building the lead.

However, Memphis finished the half strong, holding Mizzou to just four points over the final six-plus minutes to cut its deficit down to seven, 33-26. The visitors then used a strong start in the second frame to complete its comeback, outscoring Missouri, 12-3, to start the period for a 38-36 lead.

A further 10-0 run stretched the lead to double digits, 48-38, as Memphis outscored Mizzou, 22-15, to start the second frame. Missouri pulled to within seven but, overall, a 1-of-17 stretch during the crucial stretch proved too much to overcome.

Missouri shot 32.1 percent in the defeat, including just 5-of-26 (19.2%) in the second stanza, while Memphis made 43.5 percent of its attempts.

Mizzou completes its early three-game homestand on Monday, hosting SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m.