Missouri and Minnesota will face the first major test of their respective seasons on Wednesday night when they tip off in Columbia, Mo.
The Golden Gophers (2-0) will play their first road game after dispatching Gardner-Webb 87-60 and Alcorn State 95-50 at home.
The Tigers (3-0), in turn, won at Howard 88-67 and at home over Southeast Missouri State (89-84 score) and VMI (106-68) to start their season.
Missouri expects starting center Shawn Phillips Jr. back in the lineup after he sat out the last game due to an illness. The 7-footer averaged 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in his first two games.
The Tigers also started 6-11 Jevon Porter and 6-9 Mark Mitchell in its first two games and played 7-footer Luke Northweather extensively. Mitchell averages 20.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
That could create a matchup challenge for Minnesota, which features 6-8 Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and 6-8 Robert Vaihola, a transfer from San Jose State, as its primary inside threats. Crocker-Johnson has averaged 14.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game while Vaihola contributes 8.0 and 9.5, respectively.
“Rebounding translates no matter what size you are,” Minnesota coach Niko Medved said. “A high school player with high rebounding numbers usually rebounds in college. Guys with great rebounding efficiency in college usually rebound in the pros, even if they’re 6-foot-4.
“Those two — Jaylon and Rob — are both great rebounders. When Rob was healthy in the Mountain West, he was terrific. And we’ve got some guards who rebound really well, too. So I don’t think rebounding is all about size — it’s about nose for the ball, effort, and tenacity.”
Missouri will have its hands full with Golden Gophers guard Cade Tyson, who scored 51 points in his first two games.
After struggling defensively for the entire Southeast Missouri State game and the first half against VMI, the Tigers finally tightened their man-to-man coverage to close out Sunday’s victory.
“First half to the second half, I think the difference is we were able to get there on shooters and specifically lowered their percentages,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “We were able to pressure up a little bit more. We were able to get deflections on ball and make the passes a little bit tougher.”
Another positive was the performance of starting point guard Anthony Robinson II. After scoring a combined 23 points in his first two games, he had 20 points, four assists and four steals vs. VMI.
Robinson hit 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range, giving the Tigers another perimeter scoring threat.
“I’ve been working with Coach Gates on form and technique still,” Robinson said. “So it’s just me being more comfortable out there, not thinking about it, getting out of my head and letting it go. Coach Gates is telling me to shoot the ball, shoot the ball more. So it’s just me being more comfortable.”
