And-One: Butler bullies the Tigers

The morning after each Mizzou basketball game this season, we will highlight a few notable takeaways from the performance in the ‘And-One.’

Jeremiah Tilmon played 17 minutes. But he picked up two fouls in the first seven minutes and didn't return to the floor until 5:58 remained in the first half. He got his third foul at the 18:28 mark of the second half.

Without TIlmon on the floor, Missouri's offense was basically Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson driving in the lane and either shooting themselves or kicking out for a three-pointer. Pinson and Smith did their part, combining for 29 points on 12-for-21 shooting, but they got little help.

After the game, Cuonzo Martin was asked if he had to have a secondary game plan in case Tilmon got in foul trouble early.

"You don’t want to have a whole second offensive program," Martin said. "You might want to start practice in March."

At this point, the coach's only real choice is to accept it's going to happen and hope it doesn't happen too often. Because the issues haven't changed in three years.

"I just think really with Jeremiah whenever things aren’t going his way he gets consumed with the situation," Martin said. "You have to be able to let it go."

Missouri might have been able to survive an unproductive night from Tilmon. But when an off night from Mark Smith was added on top of it, it was far too much to overcome against a team like Butler.

Smith went 1-for-6 from the floor and 1-for-5 from the three-point line. He ended the night with the same number of turnovers (4) as he had points.

Tilmon and Smith were averaging a combined 21.7 points coming into the game. They had just four to go with six turnovers against Butler.

Every time Missouri would crawl back within relative striking distance (the Tigers never got closer than eight points), Butler had an answer. More often than not in the second half, that answer came on the offensive glass.

Butler beat the Tigers 29-20 on the glass with ten of those coming on the offensive end. Eight of the ten offensive rebounds were in the second half and turned into nine second chance points.

"I just think Bryce (Nze) did a great job of using his body," Martin said. "I wouldn’t say (we were) worn out. He did a great job of keeping that ball alive. Did a great job."

Missouri had been outrebounding opponents by 6.2 per game coming into Monday.

CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Missouri doesn't go away. Despite being down 25-7 and getting nothing from two of their top three scorers, the Tigers kept coming. They never really made Butler sweat, but they made the Bulldogs keep working.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Missouri hasn't beaten a good team yet. They're 4-0 against teams they should beat with ease and 0-2 against teams that will mean anything on an NCAA Tournament resume. Playing those games is a big part of getting in. But you have to win some of them. The Tigers may get another chance against Oklahoma on Tuesday night.

STOCK UP: Dru Smith. He did everything for Missouri. Nothing he does is flashy, but he simply makes plays all over and stuffs the stat sheet every night. He had 19 points, two assists, two rebounds and four steals.

STOCK DOWN: Javon Pickett. Pickett looked a step slow trying to stay in front of the Butler guards early. He played just 11 minutes on the night and barely saw the floor in the second half. Martin said after the game he liked what Missouri got on offense more with Xavier Pinson in the game. That may well become a theme.

UP NEXT: Missouri (4-2) will play the loser of the Oklahoma/Stanford game on Tuesday night. The Cardinal are currently leading the Sooners 52-39.