And One: Dynamic day for Mizzou guards in upset win
Dru Smith has been Missouri's best all-around player all season. Xavier Pinson was seven days removed from a career-high 25 points in a win over Arkansas. But on Saturday, Missouri fans saw the best of both of them at the same time in an 85-73 upset of No. 11 Auburn.
"Pinson and Smith were really tough covers," Bruce Pearl said. "Played with great confidence and great poise and executed well. They shot it great."
The duo combined for 56 points, the most scored by a pair of Tigers since Jordan Clarkson (28) and Jabari Brown (33) combined for 61 against Kentucky on February 1, 2014.
"We walked over there at the very end and (team spokesman) RJ (Layton) said something to us," Smith said. "X said something about 25 and I was like, 'I don't know what we had.' RJ said, 'You guys both had 28.'"
Smith came out firing from the start, taking seven of Missouri's first 14 shots from the floor. Pinson made his first seven shots, including a 24-foot three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer that pushed Missouri's lead to 13 and avoided a late-half swoon similar to what Missouri suffered in Baton Rouge on Tuesday to let LSU up off the mat in a game Mizzou led by 13 but ultimately lost 82-78.
"They're willing passers, but they both can score the ball," Cuonzo Martin said. "It's funny because rarely do they play with each other in practice just because they're point guards. Rarely. I mean, since we've been practicing, probably twice they've practiced together."
Putting them on the floor at the same time certainly worked on Saturday.
SEASON HIGH IN ATTENDANCE BOOSTS MIZZOU
Last Saturday, more than 11,000 fans showed up for the Rally for Rhyan game as Missouri dispatched Arkansas in overtime.
“I think the fans jump on board because of the game, but I think our fans, it has to be a way of life,” Cuonzo Martin said after that one. “This is Mizzou basketball. It’s a great tradition, great history. You’re in the Show-Me State. So I think our fans have to take more pride just to be a part of the game, to be a part of it. And then you create an atmosphere like this every night.”
Mizzou fans might be a ways from making it a nightly occurrence, but a season-high 12,506 showed up for the win over Auburn. That was helped by the time slot (Missouri hasn't had many Saturday games that allow traveling fans to get home at a reasonable hour) and by a giveaway of free hats to the first 2,000 students through the door. But whatever the reason, they showed up. They even made their presence known, at one point receiving a warning from the officials for launching a few Tiger tails in the general direction of the court.
"I love the fans," Xavier Pinson said. "Whatever they do, I'm with it. They throw (things) on the court, oh well.
"It still gets the fans more into the game and more excited and the energy was there. I can't really say anything about it."
Martin was pleased with the turnout. Then he asked for more.
"We seat 15 thousand," Martin said. "So we have to keep fighting for that. You want to be one of the best teams in the country, I think our fans understand the value they bring to our team and we need them. The energy, there was 12. Imagine if we got 15. So we have to keep working toward (that). It's my job to keep doing a good job of keep promoting and selling our guys. Their job is to continue to perform and play hard. But we seat 15 thousand so the goal is 15 thousand."
BROWN COMES UP BIG IN WIN
Kobe Brown looked to have hit a bit of a freshman wall lately. After scroing a career-high 14 points in the loss at Mississippi State on January 14th and getting 11 more against Alabama four days later, Brown missed a home game against Auburn with an illness. In the six games since, he had scored just 20 points total and was averaging just 14 minutes per game. He had 18 rebounds, 18 fouls and 12 turnovers in those six games.
But on Saturday, Brown played 26 minutes (fourth most on the team) and scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
"I thought he had a double-double. That one rebound that (Austin) Wiley tipped in, I thought he had that," Martin said. "But I thought he played well. Thought he was aggressive.
"You guys heard me say before that's probably the most important position on our team, that four position. A lot goes on at that position: switching, trapping, on both sides of the ball. It's a lot. You have to be in tune to everything that's going on. I thought he had one of his best games mentally today."
CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Missouri put up 85 points without its second- and third-leading scorers (by average). The Tigers didn’t just luck into this upset, either. They looked like the better team, leading for more than 32 minutes and leading by double-digits for the final 11:13. Plus, the schedule gets a lot more manageable after this week, with no games against a top-40 team in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. If Missouri plays like it did Saturday, all those games should be winnable. Now, given how this season has progressed, it would seem unwise to expect that, but this group is clearly improving, and a strong finish can’t hurt the direction of the program entering a pivotal 2020-21 season.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Missouri continues to foul at a torrid pace. The Tigers entered Saturday averaging 20.8 fouls per game, which ranked 328th nationally, and committed 31 fouls against Auburn. Yes, there were some questionable calls, and Auburn is especially adept at drawing contact, but at this point it’s become a clear trend. Missouri’s opponent has attempted more free throws in four of the past five games. It’s hard to win while being outscored at the line.
STOCK UP: Kobe Brown. After a tough five-game stretch in which he scored fewer than three points per game, the freshman bounced back against Auburn. He hit two big three-pointers, scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 26 minutes. As stated above, Martin called the performance his one of his best of the season from a mental standpoint.
STOCK DOWN: Tray Jackson. Brown’s freshman counterpart at the four spot cooled off a bit after scoring nine points in consecutive games. Jackson scored just three in 10 minutes Saturday, and he had at least one defensive lapse that resulted in an open layup. It wasn’t all bad for Jackson, though, as he contributed an and-one in the first half.
UP NEXT: Missouri (12-13) will host Ole Miss (13-12) on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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