Missouri Picks Up A Road At Howard

Washington D.C.

By: Ethan Hennessy

Missouri and Howard met on the opening night of the 2025-26 college basketball season. While high majors playing at mid majors is generally a rarity in the sport this has not been the case for Howard. This is the third time Howard has hosted a high major team in the past five seasons. The Bison previously welcomed Cincinnati (2023) and Notre Dame (2022) to Burr Gymnasium

Howard got on the board first after a backdoor layup from Lehigh transfer Cam Gillus. Missouri had a large mismatch in height over the smaller Bison roster. They used that to their advantage early as the Tigers scored ten of their first thirteen points in the paint. Missouri built a sizable lead and was able to keep Howard at arm’s length for the majority of the first half. Missouri took a 42-26 lead into halftime.

At the first media timeout in the second half Missouri fans who comprised about 50% of the crowd made their presence felt by breaking out in a chant supporting their Tigers. Bryce Harris was doing his part to keep Howard in the game. He hit contested jumpers on Howard’s early second-half possessions. At the 13:41 mark Alex Cotton hit a three-pointer to bring Howard within ten and Burr Gymnasium erupted. Tigers head coach Dennis Gates was forced to call a timeout a moment later after a sequence which saw Harris cut the Missouri lead to single digits and then Missouri commit an unforced turnover on the inbounds pass.

Over the next six minutes of game time Missouri crashed the offensive glass hard creating numerous second-chance point opportunities. This combined with Howard giving the Tigers a series of unforced turnovers, ballooned Missouri’s lead to 19 points with 7:16 remaining in the game. Shawn Phillips Jr. was a catalyst throughout the game for Missouri the 7’0 senior led went 8-9 from the field with 16 points and 11 rebounds in only 20 minutes of action. Alex Cotton and Bryce Harris combined for 47 points for Howard. Their effort was not enough as Missouri prevailed 88-67.

Up next for Missouri they will head home to Columbia to host SEMO on Friday night. Howard will look to get into the win column when they host their second of four straight home games to start the season against the University of the District of Columbia.