With 3 games, 1 week in the books, here are our lingering questions for Missouri basketball

Three games are in the books and the Tigers are, as expected, undefeated.

This was, for the most part, a warmup of an opening week for Missouri basketball. Mizzou handled a novel environment at mid-major Howard well for a season-opening win, beat SEMO with a little bit of a Friday night struggle at home and then handled VMI, 106-68, on Sunday at Mizzou Arena.

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Now, the Tigers (3-0) get their first Power-conference test, as first-year Minnesota coach Niko Medved brings his Gophers (2-0) to Columbia for a Wednesday night game.

After one week of games, here are some of our lingering thoughts and questions about this Mizzou squad:

How good can Missouri basketball be at the rim?

VMI coach Andrew Wilson, a 6-foot-6 graduate from Florida State, went through the handshake and saw up close what we all have noticed about this Mizzou team.

“I mean, Missouri is absolutely massive,” Wilson said. “Going through the handshake line, I’m just looking up at everybody.”

More: Missouri basketball final score. Mark Mitchell records double-double as Mizzou beats VMI

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Missouri outscored VMI in the paint 60-2, and is now leading the category 152-46 through three games. The Tigers have outscored their three mid-major opponents in the paint by more than 35 points per game.

That’s remarkable.

The Tigers’ rim defense and length forced the Keydets to take 42 of their 57 shots from the field from 3-point range, which did keep the visitors in the game for a little while. This is now a trend, and one that looks good for Mizzou.

Mark Mitchell has capitalized the most offensively, as he now has back-to-back games with more than 20 points, almost entirely coming at the rim or the free throw line. He has looked remarkably comfortable with a seemingly increased ball-handling role, and he’s driving downhill and attacking the rim with tremendous success.

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Mitchell is 23-of-33 (69.7%) from the field and has shot 28 free throws. He had his first double-double as an MU player on Sunday.

This might be the biggest strength of the 2025-26 Tigers.

Who will Mizzou lean on for 3-point shooting?

One of the major questions entering the season for Mizzou was where the Tigers would turn to replace the 3-point shooting lost with Caleb Grill, Tamar Bates and Marques Warrick.

Jacob Crews is going to always be an option. Jayden Stone has looked productive on the perimeter.

But could another answer be point guard Anthony Robinson II?

Gates, time and again, has challenged the point guard to be an SEC DPOY player for Mizzou. He’s the only returning player from last season’s All-SEC defensive team. But, the head coach gave a fascinating response Sunday about Robinson no longer needing to battle for minutes at point guard, and leaning on his defensive prowess to get there.

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He went 4-of-5 shooting Sunday against VMI from deep. The jumper looks smooth as silk, and there was no hesitation on any of his looks, which made up a career-high for 3-point attempts.

“Coach Gates is telling me to shoot the ball more,” Robinson said, “So, it’s just me being comfortable shooting the ball and, you know, not worrying about misses or making it.”

What should we make of the defense?

The SEMO matchup Friday was full of red flags from Mizzou. The Tigers did not defend well, even if the Redhawks shot the ball at a high clip. Some of that showed up again early against VMI.

Mizzou is a high-octane defense, and it has the length to get heaps of deflections and impact passing lanes. That, to MU’s credit, has showed up through three games.

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Missouri has scored 62 points off of turnovers, which is more than 20 per game. The Tigers have back-to-back games with double-digit steals. That’s encouraging playmaking ability from the defense.

What hasn’t showed up often enough is the length to impact shots from 3-point range. Teams are pummeling attempts from deep against MU, which likely has a lot to do with its length down low. But, all three opponents have had a half where they shot above 40%. That can and will hurt at some point.

The Tigers’ defensive switches and rotations do appear to still be a little slow, which could be chalked up to early season rust. Or it could be something to monitor. We’ll see as the season progresses, but watch this space.

VMI went from shooting above 40% from 3-point range in the first half to 30% in the second half. The change was how quick Mizzou was able to put stress on the shots.

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“I think the difference is we were able to get there on shooters, and specifically lower their percentages,” Gates said. “When you have a high percentage field goal number, it puts stress on you. But ultimately, we did make the adjustments.”

How will injured players impact rotation when healthy?

Shawn Phillips Jr., Trent Pierce, Annor Boateng and Trent Burns each were ruled unavailable for Sunday’s game.

More: Fourth player ruled out for Missouri basketball’s Sunday game vs VMI

Phillips is likely to return Wednesday, per Gates, and it seems like Pierce could make his season debut then, too. Boateng is more of a mystery and has no designation or timeline to return, and Burns is more likely to return later this month or early in December.

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In Phillips’ place, Jefferson City native Luke Northweather had an excellent game with 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals against VMI. We’re certain Phillips is the primary center, but Northweather has played his way into more minutes than we expected.

At 7-5, Burns will get a chance when he’s healthy, too, but there’s competition at the position.

Pierce will almost certainly start in front of Jevon Porter as the lead combo forward, but the minute distribution for each player will be intriguing.

Boateng is still a wildcard. His return could clash with the playing time for Stone and Crews, although we expect those two to be completely different players than Boateng.

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Mizzou has been running a nine-player rotation, which is much shorter than a usual Gates-led lineup. That will almost certainly expand as players become available.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Questions for Missouri basketball after first week, 3 games of season