And One: Tigers Rally for Rhyan again

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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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The headline of the day needs to be that Missouri raised nearly $80,000 to assist pediatric cancer research in the Rally for Rhyan game. That's obviously the biggest, best and most important news.

But don't just gloss over the fact that the Tigers won a game, 83-79 over Arkanas, something that hasn't happened nearly as often as anyone would like this year. Mizzou is now 5-and-0 in these games...and 59-87 in all others in the last five seasons.

“Me and Mitch (Smith) were kind of telling guys since we’ve been here for all these games, this isn’t a game we’re going to lose,” Reed Nikko said. “These aren’t games we lose. This means way more than your stat line, than our last game.”

That they won this one was thanks in no small part to the contributions of Nikko. Wearing Rhyan Loos' name on his warm-ups, the senior big man went out and posted the first double-double of his career with 11 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with three minutes to play.

"You look at Arkansas' team, not to say they're small, they don't have guys that are 6-10, 6-11, like most teams in this league might have," Cuonzo Martin said. "They've been giving up some offensively. It's just a matter of rebounding balls, keeping balls alive. I thought Mitch and Reed did a great job."

It would likely have stunned anyone that has followed this program the last few years to know that there would be legitimate concern about the Tigers' chances when Nikko fouled out with three minutes to play, but there was exactly that. He was the Tigers' best player for about 30 minutes until Xavier Pinson took over in the second half. But Mizzou had enough with the big man watching the last eight minutes of action from the bench to hold off the Razorbacks.

"It was a little tough without Reed," Martin said. "But it worked out for us."

Arkansas junior guard Mason Jones came into Saturday's game on an absolute tear. Jones was averaging 28.8 points per game over his last five. He had scored at least 20 in all five and had put up 30, 34 and 40 in his last three.

"I just think defense is pride," Martin said. "Anytime you score 30, 34, 40 in a game, that's pride. They played some good teams, beat some good teams. I think just what's in you as an individual player, you don't allow a guy to score the ball like that."

Jones led Arkansas in scoring with 17 points, but he made just 3-of-14 shots from the field. He scored 11 of the 17 from the free throw line.

"Javon (Pickett) did a good job of embracing that challenge," Martin said. "They'll get a certain amount of points, but you want the percentages to be low, you don't want the assists to be high.

"I thought we did a great job of making his catches tough, making his shots tough."

"Their defense focused on him," Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. "As a group, we have to have way better shot selection."

Despite a team spokesman saying that Mark Smith was available moments before tipoff, the junior guard missed his third consecutive game with back trouble. After sitting out for eight straight with a stress fracture in his foot, junior center Jeremiah Tilmon saw limited action in Mizzou's loss to Texas A&M earlier this week. But Tilmon didn't play against the Razorbacks either and didn't even dress for this game.

"I think Mark was probably able to go," Martin said. "Might as well try to get 100 percent. I don't want a guy 50 percent. I need to see in your eyes you're ready to go. That tells me you're ready to go, not necessarily what a trainer or doctor says. I need to feel you."

CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Missouri shot just 3-16 from three-point range and found a way to get a win — with Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon both sidelined. The Tigers weren’t the more talented team but played to their strengths: swarming defense, rebounding and getting to the free throw line. The majority of the SEC is so tightly bunched that playing a similar style should be enough to get a handful of wins down the stretch.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Missouri shot just 3-16 from three point range on its home court. While the Tigers overcame the poor shooting by attacking the rim and not settling for perimeter looks, it will be difficult to beat LSU and Auburn while shooting worse than 20 percent from behind the arc.

STOCK UP: Tray Jackson. The freshman has played sporadically for much of the season, but he came through in a few big moments against Arkansas. Jackson scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in just 15 minutes. He brought the crowd to its feet multiple times, throwing down a vicious one-handed dunk just before halftime, following up a block on one end of the floor with a putback dunk on the other, and putting an exclamation point on the victory with an alley-oop in overtime. Given his explosiveness, Cuonzo Martin needs to find a way to get Jackson on the floor more.

STOCK DOWN: Torrence Watson. Watson continues to be an offensive non-factor, even with fellow shooting guard Mark Smith sidelined. He finished with no points, one rebound, one assist and a turnover Saturday while logging minus-11 in the plus/minus.

UP NEXT: Missouri (11-12) will travel to Baton Rouge to face No. 10 LSU (17-6). Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m.