Following each Mizzou basketball game this season, we will highlight a few notable takeaways from the performance in the ‘And-One.’
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Bad shooting, turnovers the problem again
As they have been much of the year, Missouri was plagued by poor shooting and poor ball security in Saturday's 76-54 loss to South Carolina. At halftime, Missouri had ten made field goals (on 32 attempts) and nine turnovers. By that point, the Tigers had dug themselves a 13-point hole. They never got back within single digits. In fact, Mizzou trailed by at least ten for the final 25:43 at Colonial Life Arena.
Playing without Jeremiah Tilmon and Mark Smith, only two Tigers managed to make at least half their shots. Freshman Tray Jackson was 4-for-7 from the floor and Parker Braun made both field goals he attempted. The rest of the team combined to go a woeful 13-for-49 (26.5%) from the floor against the Gamecocks. Xavier Pinson was the only Tiger in double figures and he took 11 shots to get his 12 points.
Mizzou was even worse from three-point range, where the Tigers were just 4-for-19. They didn't make a three in the second half. Pinson made three of Mizzou's four shots from distance and Torrence Watson made the only other one. Meanwhile, Mizzou's once stingy defense allowed South Carolina to shoot 51% from the field.
Tigers can't handle Kotsar
South Carolina senior Maik Kotsar is a big body and a solid, experienced player. Missouri turned him into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Gamecocks center scored 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked four shots. He was 7-for-8 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free throw line. Missouri's big men countered with a combined 17 points on 5-for-17 shooting.
Kotsar was hot from the start, nearly posting a double-double in the first half. Missouri simply never slowed him down on the defensive end or found a way around him on the offensive end. Kotsar finished the game with as many steals as fouls (one of each).
Foul disparity a big issue
During his pregame interview on the Tiger Radio Network, Cuonzo Martin mentioned that Missouri had to get to the free throw line because South Carolina was "foul prone." The Tigers shot just 15 free throws on the day, about three below their season average. Mizzou did make 12 of them, boosting their season percentage to 77.4, which ranks 14th in the country, but it wasn't nearly enough.
South Carolina, meanwhile, went to the free throw line 32 times. Missouri came into the game surrendering nearly 25% of its opponents' points at the line. That number wasn't as high in this game because the Gamecocks are one of the country's worst free throw shooting teams and made just 18 of their 32 attempts. Had they been able to take advantage of the unguarded opportunities at a more normal rate, SC could easily have beaten the Tigers by 30.
With an already depleted bench due to the injuries of Tilmon and Smith, Xavier Pinson picked up three fouls in the first half and Dru Smith and Kobe Brown each finished the game with four, Brown managing to do so in just 14 minutes.
Game at a Glance
CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Well, nobody else got hurt to our knowledge. Other than that? Check back next time.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Missouri proved that anytime it gives fans a reason to feel good about things, it's capable of yanking it immediately away. The Tigers came back from 20 points down against Georgia with just 13 minutes to play on Tuesday night. But any hopes that the comeback would spur the team on a mid-season run were dashed very early in this one. The Tigers fell behind 8-0 and not only never managed to take the lead, but never even made it a one-possession game against South Carolina in the final 37:41.
STOCK UP: Evan Yerkes and Parker Braun. Yes, that's where we're at. Braun, a former walk-on, made both of his shots. Yerkes, a current walk-on, made a nice defensive play in the first half, picked up an assist in the second half and was plus-1 in his three minutes on the floor.
STOCK DOWN: Depth. Martin said on Friday that Tilmon and Smith would be game-time decisions. Neither played. The way the coach talked about Tilmon made it seem that the decision would pretty much be up to the player, but he wasn't able to go. Smith didn't play the second half against Georgia and given last year's foot issue, his availability going forward has to be a question mark. Missouri was struggling enough at full strength. Losing two of the presumed top three players on the roster isn't going to do the Tigers any favors.
UP NEXT: Missouri (10-11, 2-6) will visit Texas A&M (10-10, 4-4) on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. on SEC Network.
