Butler solves Tiger defense early, coasts to win in KC
For five games, Missouri was one of the best defensive teams in the country. Butler was not impressed.
The Bulldogs made their first six shots from the field and raced to a 15-3 lead before the first media timeout. The margin reached 25-7 lead before the first half was halfway done at the Sprint Center. At that point, the Bulldogs were 10-13 from the floor. Thereafter, they kept the Tigers at arm’s length and won 63-52.
"They were moving the ball well they were there slipped out of all their screens and stuff,” Dru Smith said. “It was something that we had talked about but it was something that we didn't handle very well there in those first eight minutes. They got a lot of wide open shots, and they shot a very high percentage.”
The Bulldogs did cool off and ended up shooting 48% for the game while matching the most points a Mizzou opponent has scored this season. The problems elsewhere for Missouri were familiar ones. They committed five turnovers in the first five minutes and Jeremiah Tilmon had no points, three fouls and just seven minutes on the floor in the first 23 minutes of the game.
Tilmon ended the game scoreless on just two shots with two rebounds, three fouls and two turnovers.
"I wouldn't expect Jeremiah to have the numbers he had in the game like this,” Cuonzo Martin said. “Even with fouls no one expected that and that takes a lot away from what you're trying to do as a team.
“There was no production.”
“I think we all know Jeremiah’s kind of the heart of our team. That’s the guy we want to get the ball to, the guy we want to play through,” Dru Smith, who led the Tigers with 19 points, said. “That’s no secret.”
It all added up to an 11-point loss in which the Tigers never got closer than eight points after the Bulldogs’ opening flurry of body blows. Was it good offense or bad defense?
“I think it was both,” Cuonzo Martin said. “They made plays, got to the rim, played with confidence.”
“We missed a lot of assignments there at the beginning of the game," Dru Smith said. "Don’t get me wrong you still have to make open shots and they were doing that. you have to give credit to them as well."
Missouri outscored Butler 45-38 over the game’s final 32:07. But the Tigers had dug themselves such a monstrous hole it didn’t matter.
“We settled down in the second half, but you dug yourself such a hole,” Martin said, finding it unnecessary to finish his thought.
Xavier Pinson did it for him: “It’s hard to win when you dig yourself that big of a hole.”
Missouri is 4-2 on the season. The Tigers have beaten the four lightweights on their schedule, but are now 0-2 against Quad 1 opponents. Mizzou lost to Xavier 63-56 in overtime earlier this season. They will face the loser of Monday night’s second game between Oklahoma and Stanford on Tuesday at 6 p.m.