Following each Mizzou basketball game this season, we will highlight a few notable takeaways from the performance in the ‘And-One.’
Shot Selection Fails Down the Stretch
After trailing almost all game, Missouri pulled even at 53-53 with Mississippi State with 8:54 to play. The Bulldogs scored the next six points, but Missouri managed to stay within shouting distance through the final media timeout. A Dru Smith layup pulled the Tigers within two at 63-61 with 1:59 to play. And then the offense faltered.
"I thought shot selection got us down the stretch in some areas," Cuonzo Martin said.
Smith took the blame for that. After a Reed Nikko steal, Mizzou had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final 90 seconds. With eight seconds remaining on the shot clock, Smith settled for a standstill three-point attempt from the top of the key. It missed and Mizzou never had the ball with a chance to tie again.
"“I was originally trying to get a ball screen to come out, and it didn’t, and then it was a bad shot," Smith said. "I shouldn’t have took that shot.
"We just have to take better shots, really, because the whole second half we were getting good looks."
It's tough to lay too much blame on Smith, who made seven of the 16 shots he took and scored 19 points on Saturday. Some questioned some of the other shots Missouri took throughout the game, particularly from three-point range. The Tigers were 6-for-29 from beyond the arc. Smith made three, Xavier Pinson made three and everyone else combined to go 0-for-12.
"They took almost half their shots from three. And again, some of them were good looks that didn’t go in. But I thought our team defense was incredible," Bulldogs coach Ben Howland said. "We got (Javon) Pickett to take a couple, and I thought the one in front of their bench late, he kind of hesitated. He took three shots tonight, they were all threes. That’s perfect for us. Because what is he first and foremost on our scouting report? A driver."
But Cuonzo Martin largely was okay with the shots throughout the course of the game.
"If you practice it, shoot it," Martin said. "The one questionable one I’d say was the one with Jeremiah (Tilmon), because it’s not as if he’s been practicing that shot, unless he’s in there at two in the morning. But was he practicing it before? Yes. And one thing, with any shot, as long as I see you practicing the shot, then it’s a good shot. I mean, Javon shoots more shots than anybody on the team, so if that shot is open, let it fly. Let it fly every time.”
Tilmon a plus in extended return
Jeremiah Tilmon returned to the Missouri lineup in Wednesday's win over Vanderbilt, but he wasn't much of a factor. He scored two points in just eight minutes and didn't see the floor much in the second half.
On Saturday, Tilmon was able to play 21 minutes, going 2-for-5 from the floor and scoring seven points. He showed off a variety of post moves and even had two assists finding open shooters. He was Missouri's fourth-leading scorer.
"When you’re out that long and you don’t have practice reps under your belt, it’s not an easy thing, especially in league play," Martin said. "It’s not like you get some preseason games where you feel like you got a chance to get your legs under you. He’s in the trenches, and tonight you’re going against physical big guys that are tough enough, big enough, strong enough. … I thought he settled in and he wasn’t bad. Gotta do a better job of rebounding.”
"I feel like Tilly just played with confidence out there," Mitchell Smith said. "He made his moves and he made them strong. Now that he got his feel back for it, I feel like Tilly's gonna keep rising after this."
Three spot a problem for the Tigers
With Pinson and Dru Smith playing together more and more, Missouri's three position has been manned mostly by a third guard lately. On Saturday, it was a black hole offensively.
Javon Pickett got the start and played 26 minutes. He went scoreless for the second game in a row, missing all three of his shots from the floor. He had two rebounds and two turnovers and appeared to injure his back late in the first half. Mark Smith played in his second came after missing time with a back problem of his own, but missed his only two shots in 13 minutes.
“Mark, just it didn’t feel right for me," Martin said. "It’s one thing not having your legs, but it just seemed like he was tugging along. And for me it’s make sure he’s healthy more than anything. So I don’t think it’s necessarily the legs, it’s just me making sure he’s healthy.”
Torrence Watson, who has been in a season-long shooting slump, played just two minutes in the loss to the Bulldogs. He had one rebound and did not take a shot.
"Torrence, you gotta get production there," Martin said. "Whatever that is, you gotta have production, because you can’t have the level of success with X and Dru playing 35, 40 minutes. That’s exhausting.
"You have to have other guys get production."
Game at a Glance
CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Missouri achieved most of its pregame objectives — except, of course, for the most important one, winning. But there’s something to be said for holding Reggie Perry to 12 points on 4-11 shooting and out-rebounding the third-best offensive rebounding team in the country. The Tigers even only committed 19 fouls. If they simply knock down a couple open looks, we’re probably writing about a win.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Pinson and Dru Smith need some help. The Tigers finally have their full complement of players available, but in the past couple games, it’s still been the two point guards doing pretty much everything on the offensive end. Martin said after the game that he doesn’t necessarily need a certain number of points from guys like Pickett and Kobe Brown and Mark Smith, but he needs more production than he got Saturday. That’s starting to become a concerning trend.
STOCK UP: Dru Smith. Smith not only carried Missouri on the offensive end for the latter part of the first half, he grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. Howland couldn’t praise Dru Smith enough in his postgame press conference, and aside from an ill-advised three-pointer late in the game, Smith deserved every bit of it.
STOCK DOWN: Javon Pickett. Pickett did tweak his back at the end of the first half and didn’t appear 100 percent afterwards, but still, you’ve got to get more out of him than zero points, two rebounds and one assist in 26 minutes. The three triples he missed were wide open looks that an SEC starter simply needs to knock down.
UP NEXT: Missouri (14-15) will travel to Ole Miss (14-15) on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
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