It hurts because it matters again
Let’s get this part out of the way first: Missouri got robbed on Saturday. Florida scored 77, Missouri scored 75 and the three guys wearing black and white stripes changed the game.
Jeremiah Tilmon fouled out with 10:33 to play while committing three fouls. Cuonzo Martin said as much after the game.
"Everybody involved has got to figure out a way to let Jeremiah Tilmon play basketball," he said. "He's a 19-year-old kid. He's doing the things we ask him to do. There's a carryover. And I just hope he doesn't get a reputation because he's doing the right things and he plays hard. It is what it is, but leave it on the floor. Let him play the game."
With 22 seconds left, Kassius Robertson flew by Jalen Hudson on the left wing as Hudson hoisted a three-pointer that did not go in. Robertson did not appear to touch Hudson. But a foul was called and his two-of-three performance at the line tied the game at 75.
“I’m not going to talk about the referees,” Robertson said.
Those were the officiating highlights of a game that Missouri probably should have won if it were just about the five players on the floor for each team.
So that’s been said and it’s out of the way. And, yes, it needs to be said after this one.
“It was a tough game for me,” Martin said. “I guess I have to keep my mouth closed on a lot of things. I’ve never been one to say anything, but it was very, very tough for me, very tough if you know what I’m saying. It was probably the toughest one I’ve ever been a part of.
“I’m not a complainer. I respect all, but it was hard.”
Ultimately, Missouri had the ball with 22 seconds left in a tie game and should have suffered no worse fate than to go to overtime. Instead, Chris Chiozza stole a haphazard (and probably thrown about a half second too late) pass from Jordan Geist intended for Kassius Robertson, bolted 71 feet in about three seconds and ripped the Tigers’ hearts out with a game-winning layup.
I’m not here to preach to you that the officials didn’t lose the game. If they didn’t lose it, they changed it. Did the Tigers have a chance still to win? Yeah. But it’s an easy argument to make the game should have been over by the time Chiozza raced down the floor as the fans gasped or watched in stunned silence. And with that we’ve spent about as much time on it as it’s worth spending. Because it happened and it’s terrible and there’s not a single thing anyone is going to do that will change it.
Bigger picture, this game was a stark illustration of where Missouri basketball is right now.
For 39 minutes, the Tigers answered every punch from a pre-season top ten team that is suddenly playing like one. Jordan Barnett caught fire, Jontay Porter continued to amaze with all-around ability well beyond his years, Jordan Geist and Kassius Robertson made big shots at big times, Reed Nikko dunked.
No, seriously, Reed Nikko dunked. And the damn roof nearly came off the place. It was, for a while, like the last three years never happened. Mizzou Arena was about as packed as it can be when class isn’t in session. A good team almost certainly headed for the NCAA Tournament was fighting for its life. It was what those of us who have been around this program for more than four years have always expected when we came into this building.
The end was heartbreaking. Of that, there is no doubt.
“It hurts,” Barnett said. “It hurts a lot.”
And this isn’t the time for moral victories. This team is past that. They expect to be this good. They expect to be better. They expect to win these games.
“This is a group that’s never going to stop fighting,” Barnett said. “We really believe we can win every game and we try to play that way.”
And that, really, is the most remarkable part.
“They’re really good,” Florida head coach Mike White said. “Cuonzo’s done an amazing job. For them to be playing as well as they are right now in such a short period of time is amazing. They’re terrific. They battle you every possession.”
Martin is without perhaps the nation’s best player and has been for all but 100 seconds of the season. The point guard that had started all but one game transferred yesterday. The big man, perhaps the most game-changing player on the Tigers’ roster, isn’t able—or being allowed to—play more than about ten minutes a game. And yet, the Tigers are right there.
Martin has a point guard rotation of Jordan Geist and Terrence Phillips. He is at times having to play Nikko and Cullen VanLeer for meaningful stretches. This is not the team he thought he had two months ago.
And, yet, it is still a team that is 11-4 and should probably be 13-2. It is one that has an SEC road win and should have beaten the only 3-and-0 team in the conference.
Saturday was crushing. It cannot beat the Tigers again. Georgia comes to town Wednesday fresh off a beating of Alabama. There are no guarantees in the SEC. Pre-season favorite Texas A&M is 0-3. First-year coach Will Wade has LSU playing well with a win over A&M and a near-win against Kentucky. Every game will be a war. But Missouri is once again equipped to fight those wars.
The Tigers plunged into a deep valley on Saturday. It hurt worse because it is no longer the norm. The valleys have been accompanied—and outnumbered—by some peaks so far. Ninety-nine percent of today’s game indicated there should be some more to come.