Mizzou fans finally got a glimmer of hope Monday, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
According to reports, Jayden Stone and Trent Pierce are trending toward being ready for SEC play - barring any setbacks. For a Missouri team that’s been searching for answers during a rocky non-conference stretch, getting two key rotation pieces back could be the spark they’ve desperately needed.
And after what happened Monday night against Illinois, the urgency couldn’t be clearer.
The Tigers were overwhelmed in a 91-48 loss - the most lopsided defeat in Braggin’ Rights history and the biggest loss under head coach Dennis Gates. Missouri’s 48-point output was also the lowest of the Gates era, a stark reminder of just how far the offense has fallen since a promising start to the season.
Early on, Mizzou looked like a team that could score with anyone. Through their first six games, the Tigers were averaging 93 points per contest.
Since Stone went down with an injury in late November, that number has plummeted to 75.7. And the drop-off hasn’t just been about raw scoring - it’s been about how they’re scoring, or more accurately, how they’re not.
The three-point line, once a weapon for Missouri, has become a problem. Before Stone’s injury, the Tigers were shooting a blistering 45 percent from deep.
In the seven games since? Just 31 percent.
Stone himself was hitting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc, and his absence has left a noticeable gap in MU’s offensive identity.
Gates didn’t mince words after the Illinois loss, comparing his roster to a puzzle that’s missing key pieces. Pierce, a 6-foot-10 forward who hasn’t played yet this season, and Stone, a proven shooter, are two players Gates sees as essential to unlocking the team’s full potential.
“Our entire team has been put together a certain way,” Gates said. “When you lose a guy like Trent Pierce, who’s a starter in the SEC with length and shooting ability, and Jayden Stone, who’s shooting the way he is - you need both of them and [Jacob] Crews on the floor to open things up.”
Crews has done his best to hold down the fort. Heading into Braggin’ Rights, he ranked fourth nationally with a 52.9 percent clip from three. But when he’s off - like his 1-for-9 showing against Illinois - the Tigers don’t have enough perimeter threats to pick up the slack.
Outside of Crews, only Anthony Robinson II is shooting above 30 percent from three among the starters. Luke Northweather has been efficient in limited attempts (44.8 percent), but Missouri’s other main forwards - Jevon Porter, Mark Mitchell, and Shawn Phillips Jr. - are shooting a combined 22 percent from deep. That kind of shooting inefficiency has forced Gates to move away from the jumbo lineup that opened the season, but even with rotation tweaks, floor spacing remains a major issue.
That’s where Pierce could make a real difference. He hit 33 percent from three last season and brings a blend of size and skill that Missouri’s frontcourt has been missing. His ability to stretch the floor could open driving lanes and give shooters more room to operate - something this offense desperately needs.
Beyond the starting five, the Tigers have also seen a dip in bench production. Over the first eight games, Mizzou averaged 38.5 points from the bench.
Since then, that number has dropped to 22.6. Getting Stone and Pierce back doesn’t just help the starting unit - it could restore the kind of depth that allows Gates to rotate more freely and keep his players fresh.
“It’ll give guys opportunities to get rest,” Gates said. “It’ll keep the guys that’s on the court in those spurts able to compete at the highest level, versus taking a play off here and there because of fatigue - not because they’re trying to. But fatigue will get you foul trouble, will take away some aggression.”
The timing of their return is critical. Mizzou wrapped up its non-conference slate with a 10-3 record, but the resume is thin.
The Tigers are 0-3 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, with their best win coming against Minnesota - a Quad 3 opponent. If they’re going to make a serious push toward the NCAA Tournament, it’s going to have to happen in SEC play.
And the opportunities will be there. Missouri has 11 Quad 1 games lined up in conference play, including five in January alone. That stretch kicks off with a home game against Florida followed by a road trip to Kentucky - two immediate chances to start rewriting the narrative.
The good news? There’s a nearly two-week window before SEC play begins.
That gives Stone and Pierce time to ramp up and, hopefully, rejoin the lineup fully healthy. It also gives Gates a chance to reset, refocus, and retool a team that still has the talent to make noise - if it can finally get back to full strength.
“If you’re healthy, your team can get better,” Gates said. “But if you have so many moving parts throughout the season, in this early phase, you’re not going to take the jump yet. And I’m excited about getting our team together and being prepared to take the jump.”
That jump needs to happen soon. The Tigers have just five games left against teams they were ranked ahead of in the KenPom ratings before Monday’s loss, which means the margin for error is shrinking fast.
The SEC schedule offers a path - not an easy one, but a path nonetheless - to an NCAA Tournament berth. To walk it, Missouri will need to look more like the team that earned preseason top-25 votes and less like the one that just suffered its worst loss in years.
With Stone and Pierce nearing a return, the pieces may finally be falling back into place. Now the question becomes: can the Tigers put the puzzle together in time?