COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou basketball is set to travel over 900 miles for its season opener against Howard in Washington, D.C. 

Head coach Dennis Gates is entering his fourth year as the head of Missouri's program, fresh off a 22-12 regular season and his second NCAA Tournament appearance with the Tigers. Team captains Anthony Robinson II and Mark Mitchell lead the pack of returners, while transfers Sebastian Mack and Shawn Phillips Jr. headline the transfer class. 

Missouri starts the season well outside the AP Top 25 despite finishing last season at No. 21 and returning the most minutes played in the Southeastern Conference. 

But enough about the Tigers – what is there to know about Howard? 

Blake Harper's replacement

Howard's top three leading scorers from last season, Blake Harper, Marcus Dockery and Cameron Shockley-Okeke all departed from the team either through graduation or the transfer portal. Harper led the team with 19.5 points per game, and it's going to take a a big leap from a Bison to replace him.

Graduate guard Bryce Harris was named to the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year ahead of 2024-2025, but played justg seven games last season before going down with an injury, averaging 9.6 points per game on 42.9% shooting. Now, he's set to return and take on a larger scoring presence. 

3-point shooting

Last season, Howard led the MEAC in 3-point attempts (733), makes (273) and percentage (37.2) by a wide margin. Harper, Dockery and Shockley-Okeke led the Bison in 3-point percentage last season, but their departures shouldn't hurt Howard too bad. 

Howard has led the conference in 3-point makes, attempts and percentage in each of the last four seasons, dating back to the 2021-2022 season. Head coach Kenneth Blakeney has implemented a system for the Bison to take and make threes at a high volume, meaning their offense has a chance to shoot their way in or out of any game. 

Their shooting provides a strong test for Missouri's perimeter defense, which appears to be feisty as ever after the exhibition game against Kansas State. 

New faces

While Missouri returned plenty of minutes, Howard did not. The Bison returned just four players – Harris, Ose Okojie, Isaiah Brown and Calvin Robins Jr. –  none of which averaged double-digit points. 

The Bison will heavily rely on transfers to make quick impacts, such as juniors Cam Gillus and Cedric Taylor III. There's limited scouting the Tigers can do to prepare for this iteration of the Howard Bison, and Missouri needs to stick to its game to prevent a trap upset.