It wasn’t always pretty, but Missouri notched their first win behind the shooting of a guy who wasn’t even eligible to play a few weeks ago

Mark Smith took nine shots, scored 19 points and also grabbed 10 defensive rebounds in what you might call a pretty good introduction. If you missed it all, you can watch Smith’s post game interview:

• Matter’s game recap: Smith erupts in Mizzou debut
• Cam Teague’s write-up: Smith sparks Tigers to season opening win
• Jack Parodi’s gamer as well: Smith shines from deep as Missouri tops UCA

I’ll have more thoughts with Study Hall tomorrow (still tweaking the spread sheet!), but I thought the defense was largely good, and the team seems to have willing rebounders. They got nothing from Puryear and Geist offensively, which can’t be a standard the rest of the season. The newcomers all had moments, but without Jeremiah Tilmon and Mark Smith the Tigers lose this game.

I expect it to get better and even look pretty at times, but in large part this season is going to be a slog.

The Mizzou Women took care of business by going on the road and beating Western Illinois

I’m not entirely sure why they were playing in Macomb, IL in a true road game against the Leathernecks but they won:

Here’s a box score courtesy of MUTigers.com and it looks good for Sophie Cunningham, Lauren Aldridge, and Amber Smith.

The women are off until next Tuesday when they take on Missouri State at home, while the men play this friday at Iowa State which will be a true test of their mettle. The Cyclones will be without Cameron Lard, one of their top interior players which should help, but it’ll still be a tough game to win.

Yesterday at Rock M

More Links:

• The Post-Dispatch looks ahead to Vanderbilt (hint, Mizzou should win)

I appreciate Drew for his jabs like this.

Meanwhile, one of the Tigers top targets at Safety, 4-star Jalani Williams (from Parkway North in St. Louis) is committing soon and the Tigers are said to be in good shape!