Jayden Stone, Mark Mitchell help Mizzou blow out South Carolina
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Mizzou’s Jayden Stone and Mark Mitchell were too much for a South Carolina team searching for any kind of spark this season.
Stone led all scorers with 22 points, while Mitchell posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 assists, as the Tigers thumped South Carolina 78-59. Mizzou, winners of back-to-back games and three of its last four, moved to 16-7 (6-4 SEC).
The Tigers never trailed in this one as they led by as much as 13, 21-8, with 10:42 to go in the first half. But the Gamecocks (11-13, 2-9 SEC) pulled within 34-30 at the halftime intermission before Mike Sharavjamts made it a 34-32 ballgame 23 seconds into the second half.
South Carolina would get no closer. Mizzou put together a 17-5 win spanning over seven minutes to open up a 51-37 edge with 12:21 to go in the contest, a lead that only briefly dropped into single digits the rest of the way.
Meechie Johnson scored 13 points for South Carolina but was just 2-of-13 from the floor as the Gamecocks, losers of five straight and nine of their last 11, finished the day shooting 31%. The Tigers shot nearly 60% in the second half and just over 46% on the afternoon, with Stone and Mitchell going a combined 14-of-20 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Mizzou heads to Texas A&M on Wednesday. South Carolina visits Alabama on Feb. 14.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
