Mizzou men not deterred from 3-heavy system after poor shooting. ‘It’ll fall eventually.’

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri men’s basketball forward Noah Carter watched the TV mounted on the side wall of the Mizzou Arena media room. Gazing over the heads of assembled reporters, he didn’t avert his eyes from the ugly cycle of stats that scrolled across the screen.

Mizzou’s numbers painted a particularly rough portrait Friday night when MU blew a 14-point lead in the first half to lose 70-55 at home to Memphis.

Offense — more specifically, shooting — was to blame. The bricks laid across a 32.1 percent shooting day couldn’t build more than the brutalist foundation of a defeat.

On the shots: Missouri took 56 of them and made only 18. From beyond the arc, Mizzou went six for 28.

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It was particularly bad in the second half, when the black-and-gold Tigers were outscored 44-22. The final 20 minutes saw a meager five MU field goals go through the rim.

Second-year coach Dennis Gates called the game a “tale of two halves.” There was a stretch in the first half in which the hosts assembled a 16-2 run, and a moment when point guard Sean East II had 12 points to the visitors’ total of 12.

But for each of those positives, there was a stretch of 16 missed shots in the second half that was interrupted only by a paint score from Carter. And Memphis’ pivot to small ball in the second half contained East to no points — not even a shot — after the break.

It’s not like Mizzou’s defense was particularly abhorrent. No, MU held the visitors to 43.5 percent shooting from the field and 36.8 percent shooting from 3-point range. And there were a handful of stops in the second half, before the game was gone for good, when defensive stops could’ve or should’ve fueled a comeback.

“We weren’t able to capitalize on what I thought was the advantages that we created by coming (down) with the rebound, getting the open looks that we got,” Gates said.

The disconcerting numbers don’t stop with the shots.

“The other thing is assist-to-turnover ratio,” Gates said. That number is a prized indicator of performance for MU, indicative of playmaking ability.

Everyone can keep their socks on to count Missouri’s assists — tracking all eight of them leaves thumbs free. They weren’t enough to compensate for 12 turnovers.

“You can’t win ball games with a negative assist-to-turnover ratio,” Gates said. “The other thing is for the majority of the game, we didn’t out-shoot them from the free throw line … It starts with those two things, and points in the paint.”

It’s quickly becoming a lot of other things.

Mizzou did end up performing better than Memphis at the free throw line, going 13 of 17 compared to the visitors’ 9-for-16 showing. Nearly all of MU’s charity stripe contributions came during the second half, when it was apparently the only spot on the floor good for consistent shot-making.

On to the next part of the stat sheet.

“The one thing that I do look at is Aidan Shaw — 16 minutes, three rebounds, which is completely different than what he did last game rebounding the ball,” Gates said. “Caleb Grill — 10 rebounds from the guard spot — we can’t have that. We cannot have a guard leading us in rebounds.”

Shaw, a second-year lengthy forward, grabbed nine rebounds in Missouri’s season-opening win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday. He was far from the same presence on the boards Friday.

And Grill’s rebounding compensated for an especially difficult shooting day — he went two for 11 from the field.

The difference between the second game of the year and the opener was stark — Mizzou didn’t even score half of the 101 points put through the rim just four nights prior. Of course, the reigning American Athletic Conference champions, an NCAA Tournament team last season, present the sort of test that Gates was after when he brought Memphis in during opening week.

But do the shooting shortcomings even matter?

“This is our second game of the season, so you’re trying to get into that rhythm,” Gates said. “I’m not surprised at the phase of the season we’re in, and that’s where I would look at it (it) probably a little different if it was our 10th game or our last third of our season.”

Gates has prioritized 3-point shooting with this year’s Missouri team, from game plan to roster build. And as he tells it, Friday’s flop is part of the process.

“I still want these guys to shoot the shots that they took,” he said. “I truly believe there may not be (another) shooting display like that.”

That was his message to players: “Keep shooting it.”

“I’ve seen these same shots go in consistently,” Gates said. “Do you want to change your entire style of play? No.”

Mizzou will look to weather the shooting storm — or maybe quell it — with a quick turnaround, hosting SIU-Edwardsville on Monday. With more nonconference tests on the way, including a Nov. 16 trip to Minnesota, the percentages will continue to fluctuate.

“We just got to remain confident at all times,” point guard Nick Honor said. “Usually it’s not about how you’re doing when you’re doing well, it’s about how you react to it when you’re doing bad. We need to improve a little bit in that section. We’re just gonna continue to keep shooting and it’ll fall eventually.”

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Photos: Mizzou falls to Memphis in early season men’s basketball tilt in Columbia

Missouri head coach Dennis Gates yells from the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Memphis Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Columbia, Mo.