Mizzou vs Prairie View A&M
When | 7:00 p.m. CT
Where | Mizzou Arena; Columbia, MO
TV | SECN+
Radio | Tiger Radio Network
Twitter | @MizzouHoops
ESPN win probability | 99.0% chance
The Starters
Mizzou (4-0)
G: Anthony Robinson II (JR, 9.0 PPG in 24-25)
G: Sebastian
Mack (JR, 9.6 PPG in 24-25 at UCLA)
F: Jevon Porter (SR, 12.5 PPG in 24-25 at Pepperdine)
F: Mark Mitchell (SR, 13.9 PPG in 24-25)
C: Shawn Phillips, Jr. (SR, 5.4 PPG in 24-25 at Arizona State)
Notable Sixth Man: Jayden Stone (SR, 20.8 PPG in 23-24 at Detroit Mercy)
Prairie View A&M (2-2)
F: Keeshawn Mason (SR, 13.0 PPG in 24-25 at Mid-America Christian University)
F: Cory Wells (SR, 2.8 PPG in 24-25 at Utah Valley)
G: Doug Young (SR, 5.4 PPG in 24-25 at Quinnipiac)
G: Lance Williams (SR, 15.0 PPG in 24-25 at Xavier University of Louisiana)
G: Tai’Reon Joseph (SR, 8.8 PPG in 24-25 at University of Texas at San Antonio)
Notable Sixth Man: Marcel Bryant (JR, 9.8 PPG in 24-25)
Note: these starting lineups are projected.
Get to know the Prairie View A&M Panthers
From Sam Snelling’s preseason preview:
A school like Prairie View is best viewed as a destination for high major cast-offs, and mid-major role players looking for a bigger share of the pie. You can build pretty good teams just feasting off the ends of roster from schools in better leagues.
That’s why the Panthers will feature transfers from UTSA, Utah Valley, Western Michigan, Quinnipiac, and Idaho State this season. Being located near Houston also means you can draw some players back closer to home.
The Prairie View A&M Panthers have been members of the SWAC Conference since 1977 and it’s been a rollercoaster of a ride.
Having a good season in Prairie View is finishing the season under 300 in KenPom. Smith has done that 6 times in 9 seasons.
Over the last six seasons, the Panthers have played 60 non-conference games against D1 opponents, yet they’ve only walked away with a victory eight times. However, there has still been bright spots under head coach Byron Smith. He took Prairie View to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 before losing to Fairleigh Dickinson in the First Four. In 2020, he won the SWAC Conference but there was no NCAA Tournament due to COVID. The team saw similar success in 2021, winning the conference again, but lost in the conference tournament and therefore no March bid.
These schools have only met two times in their storied histories. The first meeting was in 1991 when Mizzou had a squad of Doug Smith, Anthony Peeler, Melvin Booker and Jevon Crudup. And boy, did they run up the score, defeating the Panthers by 52 points — the 11th largest victory in Mizzou history. The most recent meeting was 17 years ago and the Tigers won by 21 points in another easy contest.
Missouri will look to improve to 3-0 all-time against Prairie View on Monday night.
In four games this year, the Panthers are currently 2-2. The group started 2-0, defeating DII College of Biblical Studies and later DIII University of Dallas. Since the hot start, the Panthers have suffered crushing defeats to Wichita State and Oklahoma State.
3 Keys to the Game
Start Fast
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again — this team has not loved to jump out the gate ready to go. Minnesota was able to easily exploit this issue against the Tigers. However, the Gophers and the Panthers are two very different teams. It will be key to not let ego’s get in the way of taking care of a SWAC team. Prairie View is 4-48 on the road against D1 opponents over the last six seasons, they’ve kept themselves within 10 points in 14 of those losses. So pay attention, commit few mistakes, and get the job done.
You Can’t Teach Height
This Missouri team is tall.
But something that plagued these Tiger teams over the last few years has been the inability to collect rebounds. In what seemed to be a fluke, Mizzou didn’t even obtain a single offensive board until late into the second half against Minnesota. It’s something that cannot happen again, especially when you are a team blessed with height.
A game against the Panthers is a prime opportunity to correct this issue moving forward.
Taking Opportune Shots
Mizzou being fiery with their shot selection as well as having success on shots taken allowed them to pull away from Minnesota when it appeared that the game could go down to the wire. Overall the Tigers only missed 9 field goals and shot 50% from three, plus a higher rate of free throws began to fall. Overall, the Tigers true shooting percentage was 71.8% — the team’s highest of the season. I’d look for Mizzou to still take advantage of the lane with the height advantage, but to maintain confidence from the post and beyond.
Injury Report
It appears that the team will still be without Trent Pierce, Annor Boateng and Trent Burns.
Pierce was practicing with the team recently; however, Gates has kept him out of the action all season so far, nor has he provided a practice update. The details of his injury have still not been revealed.
Annor Boateng is also dealing with an undisclosed injury, but according to Gates he is day-to-day.
Burns had foot surgery in the offseason and will be out for an undetermined amount of time. The original timeline had him set to miss the first four weeks of non-conference play.
Game Prediction
My prediction: Mizzou 95, Prairie View A&M 58
With limited success against DI teams in recent years as well as the current team’s staggering losses to Oklahoma State and Wichita State this year, the Tigers should have no problem taking care of business. With ease. Against Minnesota, Mizzou had excellent success off the bench from Jacob Crews and Jayden Stone, especially with Jevon Porter and Shawn Phillips Jr. (both starters) putting up zero points. A complete team like the Tigers will overpower a team of newcomers and transfers on Monday night.
