Mizzou basketball opens game with absurd 23-0 run
By David Wasson
Published:
It’s impossible for a college basketball team to completely shut out an opponent, but the Missouri basketball squad certainly made a decent run at it against the Cleveland State Vikings.
Mizzou (7-0) kept Cleveland State off the scoreboard entirely in the first 8:59 of Saturday’s game before the Vikings managed their first points at Mizzou Arena. At that point, the Tigers were ahead 23-0.
Cleveland State missed its first 13 shot attempts of the game, while Mizzou got 8 points from Mark Mitchell during the opening run – even though the Tigers didn’t score their first points of the game until the 18:01 mark.
Cleveland State’s Dylan Nessah finally broke the seal with a pair of free throws with 11:01 to play in the first half. The Vikings didn’t manage their first field goal until Nessah hit a jumper with 10:13 remaining.
The Vikings (3-5) made up for their lackluster start after that, however, chipping away to make the deficit 16 points at one juncture before heading into halftime trailing 46-22.
The Tigers started the 2022-23 season 9-0 and are aiming for similar results in 2025-26. Mizzou has played all but 1 of its games this season at home, a season-opening 88-67 victory at Howard.
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An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
