Post-Game Report: Brown goes for 30 as Mizzou upsets Alabama
Missouri entered its matchup with No. 15 Alabama having played just one game in the past 17 days — a 27-point loss at Kentucky. Due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the roster, the Tigers hadn't had enough players healthy to hold five-on-five scrimmages during practices. Two players, point guard Anton Brookshire and shooting guard Amari Davis, didn't suit up against the Crimson Tide, leaving Missouri with just 10 available bodies.
Yet the Tigers took the court looking not rusty, but refreshed. Missouri stormed out the gate to start both the first and second halves.
The Tigers scored on 15 of their first 16 possessions after halftime, exploding for 32 points in a little more than nine minutes. That run turned a three-point halftime deficit into an 18-point lead. Missouri would hold on from there to win 92-86.
“We have a way to go as a team, but I think we’ve made tremendous strides, especially in the week or so we’ve had a chance to practice and get better," head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "And I thought our guys came with their hard hat."
As he has in most of Missouri's wins this season, junior Kobe Brown led the way. Brown scored a career-high 30 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. With the team shorthanded, Brown was one of four starters to play at least 30 minutes and to score at least 15 points.
The win improved Missouri (7-7, 1-1) to .500 both on the season and in conference. Here are five things we learned from the victory.
1. Missouri's offensive explosion to open the second half won the Tigers the game.
Missouri has struggled to put the ball in the basket for much of this season, but the offense clicked on all cylinders for the first nine minutes after halftime. Missouri outscored Alabama 32-11 during that time.
The Tigers did so primarily by getting the ball to the basket. Missouri entered Saturday's game ranked No. 357 out of 358 Division I teams in three-point shooting. As a result, Martin said he "had to put some restrictions on guys on when you're shooting threes." During Missouri's torrid start to the second half, 26 of the team's 32 points came from the paint or the free throw line.
“We just kind of found that as a team," Brown said. "They tried to press up, so the drives are always open when a ton of guys are close to you. So we just tried to make the most out of it.”
After starting the second half by knocking down 12 of 18 field goal attempts, Missouri would make just four of its final 14. But the cushion they built early in the half proved enough to pull out the win.
2. After struggling at Kentucky, Brown bounced back in a big way. Plagued by foul trouble, Brown scored just six points in Lexington. After the game, acting head coach Cornell Mann acknowledged the importance of Brown to Missouri's team when he said "it's going to be tough when Kobe has six."
Brown said Saturday that ate at him — he was eager to get back on the court and redeem himself. He certainly did so Saturday.
Brown showcased his ability to score from all three levels against Alabama. He opened the game by finding a hole in the middle of the Crimson Tide zone. He caught a pass at the elbow, turned and scored. On Missouri's next possession, he grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in, then he made another mid-range jumper shortly thereafter. A few minutes later, he knocked down a corner three.
"If he makes the three-ball, it changes games," Martin said of Brown. "Now you’ve got to guard him differently. And it opens the whole game up for everybody. Because now you have to guard that, and when he did that, everything else opened up. The post game, the drives, everything opened.”
By halftime, Brown had already racked up 17 points and seven rebounds. In the second half, having established himself as a shooting threat, he did most of his damage around the basket. Brown scored his 30 points on 9-13 shooting. He went 10-11 from the free throw line, including four clutch free throws to ice the game in the final seconds.
Perhaps just as important as his offensive contribution, Brown avoided fouling out on the defensive end of the floor. He picked up his fourth foul with more than 10 minutes to play but sat on the bench for less than four minutes before returning. He never got whistled for a fifth.
"I hate getting two fouls early in the game," Brown said. "So I gotta work on that. Glad I didn’t do it this game. My team needs me, so I gotta do everything I can to stay on the floor.”
3. With Missouri shorthanded in the backcourt, Boogie Coleman and DaJuan Gordon both stepped up.
Coleman scored 18 points, including making four of Missouri's nine three-pointers. He added eight rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes. Gordon scored 15 points and had two steals, including one that he took the other way for a dunk to extend Missouri's lead to seven points with 23 seconds to play. Martin praised Gordon for his effort guarding Alabama point guard Jahvon Quinerly.
“I thought they were solid," Martin said of Coleman and Gordon. "I thought they were aggressive. ... (Gordon) made shots, and when he’s making shots, he’s doing the other things. He had a tall order in guarding Quinerly, and I thought he did a solid job.”
Martin and his players also offered some praise for Kaleb Brown. The true freshman entered Saturday having played the fewest minutes of anyone on the Missouri roster, but with Brookshire and Davis absent, he played 18 minutes. He scored just two points, but he grabbed three rebounds and dished a pair of assists, and Martin said his impact was bigger than the box score indicates.
"Though it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, I thought he had a tremendous floor game," Martin said. "Facilitating, making plays, directing traffic, defending, being physical without fouling. So proud of him, because it’s often times you can lose yourself when you’re not playing. But he stayed the course, had great energy, and he brings his hard hat to work every day."
4. The fact that Missouri came out even with Alabama from three-point range constitutes a minor miracle. As mentioned above, the Tigers entered Saturday second-to-last nationally in three-point shooting. The Tigers also ranked No. 330 in three-point percentage defense. That figured to be problematic against an Alabama team that shoots more threes than any high-major team in the country.
Yet both teams finished the game 9-24 from behind the arc. Asked whether he was more proud of his team's three-point offense or its defense, Martin pointed to the offense. He said a big part of that was his team improving its shot selection.
"Shots aren’t just going at the rim," Martin said. "You’re taking good shots, you’re taking shots that you practice, you’re driving that ball, putting pressure on the defense.”
The fact that Missouri showed it could knock down shots from behind the arc, Martin said, helped open up the rest of the offense.
"If you’re able to make shots, then your spacing is better," he said. "I mean, you look at all the best teams, they’re able to make shots, that’s why their spacing is good. You don’t make shots, then the defense tightens up, now you struggle. But when you start making shots, that thing opens up, now guys are able to drive the ball and make plays.”
5. The team believes the past week could prove to be a turning point for Missouri's season. So far, so good.
Martin said that, even though Missouri had some players who couldn't work out at all and some who had to work out individually due to COVID-19 positives and contact tracing, the team practiced harder than ever since returning to campus after Christmas. He described the workouts as "old school."
Coleman said the practices featured "a lot of competing and a lot of consequences if you lose." Those consequences came in the form of running.
“If you didn’t talk, you had to sprint," Javon Pickett said. "If you lost, suicides.”
Coleman said the purpose of the running was to instill more accountability into Missouri's players. He said the team had "a whole different energy" during the practices.
"Basically you were trying to practice perfectly so you won’t have to run, but obviously you can’t do that," Coleman said. "So just trying to eliminate your mistakes, and it helps you out with just habits and being on your stuff during the game.”
The team credited those practices for its upset of Alabama. Time will tell if it will be remembered as a turning point or a blip.
Star of the Game: Even against a top-15 team with several potential NBA Draft prospects, Kobe Brown was the best player on the floor. His performance marked his fifth game of more than 20 points this season. No other Tiger player has topped the 20-point mark once. The double-double was his fifth, as well. Basically, if Missouri is going to beat high-major competition this season, it's going to be because Brown carries the team. In the Tigers' wins over Alabama, Utah and SMU, Brown has averaged 27 points.
Room for Improvement: Missouri will almost certainly spend some time in practices next week working on breaking a full-court press. Alabama nearly clawed its way back into the game late by forcing a couple turnovers with its pressure. While having two of its primary ball-handlers in Davis and Brooskhire available would likely help against the press, it wouldn't come as a surprise if future opponents mix in a bit more pressure after seeing Missouri struggle to handle it Saturday.
What it means: Perhaps Martin needs to shorten his bench going forward. Missouri leaned heavily on its five starters with Brookshire and Davis unavailable, and all five played well. Brown, Coleman, Gordon and Pickett each scored at least 15 points, and freshman forward Trevon Brazile chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Next up: Missouri will travel to Arkansas Wednesday. The Razorbacks have started SEC play 0-3 after falling to Texas A&M on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
Quotable: “Often times you can consume yourself with the periphery when you’re not winning games, you’re struggling. But I’ve never been one of those guys, because that’s time and energy off my life clock to be worried about that. ... But for our guys, I’m happy for them." -- Cuonzo Martin
Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage