It started so well for Xavier. Keying on stopping Missouri big man Jeremiah Tilmon, X drew a couple of quick fouls that sent him to the bench less than three minutes into the game. Tilmon left with Xavier down 4-3. Leading up to the under-4 media timeout, Xavier led 27-12.
Despite the big lead, there were some signs of cracks in Xavier's defenses. X was playing incredible defense, but offensive execution was miserable. By the time the half concluded, they had double-digit turnovers and had shot 2-12 from behind the arc despite Missouri's best big man riding the bench for the vast bulk of the half.