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MEMPHIS, Tenn. 鈥� The pressure was too much for Missouri.

That, schematically and philosophically, was the difference between the first and second half of Mizzou鈥檚 season-opening loss to Memphis on Monday. The home Tigers applied pressure and the away Tigers struggled with it.

MU outscored Memphis 42-32 in the first half and led by 13 early in the second, only to blow the lead en route to an 83-75 road loss.

Missouri looked like a program reborn in the first 20 minutes, pouring in transition points with breezy possessions created by a 2-3 zone defense that befuddled Memphis. But as the final 20 minutes unfolded, Mizzou regressed rapidly, going more than six minutes without a field goal on one end of the floor while allowing an 11-0 run on the opposite.

鈥淢emphis wasn鈥檛 pressing in the first half as much as they were in the second,鈥� third-year coach Dennis Gates said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the difference. It was two different games.鈥�

The numbers certainly make it seem that way.

Mizzou excelled in one of Gates鈥� favorite metrics, assist-to-turnover ratio, in the first half, posting 12 assists to only three steals 鈥� about as crisp as it gets for that stat. Once Memphis started pressing, that flipped to only four assists but 11 turnovers in the second half 鈥� a complete reversal.

Memphis鈥� press had a trickle-down effect. Because Missouri was struggling to inbound and advance the ball without turning it over, Gates deployed both of MU鈥檚 true point guards 鈥� Tony Perkins and Anthony Robinson II, who made his first career start 鈥� at the same time.

鈥淏all-handling was more important in that second half,鈥� Gates said.

The minutes needed to play the combination of Perkins and Robinson came at the expense of the first half鈥檚 two best players: forwards Trent Pierce and Aidan Shaw.

Pierce and Shaw combined for 20 minutes and 19 points in the first half but just five points and 10 minutes in the second half. They were the only Missouri players to finish with a positive plus/minus across the entire game.

That they were off the court for much of the second half, then, was curious.

鈥淚 thought those two guys did give us good minutes 鈥� don鈥檛 get me wrong,鈥� Gates said before explaining the sudden added premium on ball-handling. 鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 allow us to go with that same rotation.鈥�

Across the board, Mizzou鈥檚 half-court offense struggled to generate many effective looks. The visitors scored a blistering 1.62 points per possession when operating in transition, but that stalled when they weren鈥檛 storming down the court after a stop.

MU鈥檚 post-ups generated just 0.55 points per possession, according to Synergy鈥檚 live tracking data. Pick and rolls created just 0.83 points per possession. Spot-up shots from the perimeter netted 0.78 points per possession.

That鈥檚 not a lot of success for a half-court system.

鈥淚 thought we were slow to get into our operating areas,鈥� Gates said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get the ball past the 3-point line in certain situations in that second half. Vice versa, first half, we was able to do that. That鈥檚 what Memphis is good at, right? They are good at disrupting your flow, disconnecting offenses and things like that.鈥�

Robinson, who played 27 minutes and scored a team-high 16 points with seven assists, four rebounds, three steals and just one turnover, didn鈥檛 think Missouri was putting up poor shots.

鈥淪ometimes they won鈥檛 always go down,鈥� the second-year point guard said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 rely on just making shots to bring energy for us.鈥�

While Memphis鈥� press forced Gates鈥� hand when it came to rotations, foul trouble played its part too.

Center Josh Gray picked up his third and fourth fouls of the game within one minute of game time early in the second half, sending him to the bench. Freshman Peyton Marshall made his collegiate debut for some fill-in duty, but Mizzou largely shifted the center responsibilities elsewhere, rolling with smaller lineups.

At the time Gray checked out with four fouls, Missouri had a 13-point lead. As soon as he hit the bench, that advantage started to steadily crumble. When Gray came back in, the lead was down to six, and kept falling.

鈥淥nce we had to go small, I didn鈥檛 really want to put Aidan Shaw and Mark Mitchell in the paint as much as I did, but that allowed more paint touches (for Memphis) and less aggression, (Gray) having those four fouls,鈥� Gates said.

He seemed to regret how he approached pivoting once Gray had four fouls, suggesting that in hindsight, he should have told the transfer center to 鈥渏ust go foul out and play more aggressive and we鈥檒l deal with the rest,鈥� Gates said. 鈥淏ut we wasn鈥檛 able to play aggressive and I thought that is what, in that second half, set us back.鈥�

Still, the overarching takeaway for Missouri likely has more to do with the full-court pressure from Memphis. Not every team can execute it with such devastating results, but that Mizzou struggled to respond to a press is now on tape for the college basketball world to see.

鈥淭hey came out with a press: We just had to take care of the ball better,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淲e had a few mistakes with the turnovers. They came out and punched us in the mouth. We just need to figure out a way to convert and punch them back.鈥�

MU鈥檚 chance to recover 鈥� and pick up its first victory of calendar year 2024, which would snap a 20-game losing streak 鈥� will come at 7 p.m. Friday when the Tigers host Howard. The Bison lost their season-opener 87-57 to No. 1 Kansas.