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Post-Game Report: Freshmen flash as Mizzou cruises past Eastern Illinois

During the second half of Missouri's matchup with Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, true freshman Anton Brookshire lofted the ball from the three-point line toward the rim. Brookshire had knocked down a pair of three-pointers earlier in the game, but this wasn't a shot. The ball landed perfectly in the hands of a leaping Trevon Brazile, who slammed it home for an alley-oop.

The score not only represented an on-court reunion for the two players who played together at Kickapoo high school last season. It marked the third assist in the span of about two minutes for Brookshire, all of which resulted in dunks. Missouri enjoyed a parade of easy baskets around the rim as it shot 18-29 from inside the arc during the second half en route to a comfortable 72-44 win.

Brookshire had largely struggled during the first eight games of his college career, logging a grand total of nine points, seven assists and five turnovers. With Boogie Coleman unavailable for Tuesday's game due to "team policy," Brookshire knew he would have to play more minutes against Eastern Illinois than he had all season.

He rose to the occasion with by far his best performance in a Tiger uniform. Brookshire's two triples marked the only made three-pointers for Missouri's team. He finished the game with eight points and three assists in 24 minutes.

"That was good, to see him make shots, because he’s a different player when he can make shots," Cuonzo Martin said of Brookshire, "and it opened things up for us."

Brookshire was part of a balanced scoring attack for Missouri. Five Tiger players scored at least eight points. Missouri improved to 5-4 in its final tune-up before the competition ramps up for the rest of the season. Here are five things we learned from the performance.

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Missouri freshman Anton Brookshire scored eight points and dished three assists while playing a career-high 24 minutes in the team's win over Eastern Illinois.
Missouri freshman Anton Brookshire scored eight points and dished three assists while playing a career-high 24 minutes in the team's win over Eastern Illinois. (Megan Fox/PowerMizzou)

1. Missouri won this game around the basket. The Tigers have shot the ball poorly from three-point range all season, and those struggles continued against Eastern Illinois. Missouri made just two of 19 attempts from behind the arc Tuesday. But the Tigers made up for it by scoring a whopping 50 points in the paint.

Martin said getting the getting scoring opportunities around the rim has been a point of emphasis lately given the team's struggles from deep.

“Especially when you’re not making three-point shots, we have to put pressure on them," Martin said. "We have to do a great job of getting in the paint. So every chance we can get in the paint, get in the paint, get in the paint. So that’s offensive rebounds, free throws."

Indeed, the Tigers dominated in those two categories. Missouri doubled up Eastern Illinois on the boards, 42-21. Fourteen of those rebounds came on the offensive end, leading to 18 second-chance points. Kobe Brown led the way with 11 rebounds. He also had 11 points for his fourth double-double of the season. The Tigers outscored Eastern Illinois 12-4 from the free throw line.

Point guard Amari Davis said at a certain point, Missouri realized the three-point shot wasn't falling and started to look for opportunities inside instead. A more fluid offense helped make generate those looks. During the second half, 19 of the Tigers' 25 field goal attempts came from inside the arc.

"Since we weren’t hitting threes, we were like, get the ball inside, move around, cut when someone got the ball in the post," Davis said, "and that opened up more shots on the outside.”

The success around the basket came despite Missouri playing small for most of the night. Seven-foot-three center Jordan Wilmore played just five minutes, while freshman Yaya Keita was only on the floor for the final three minutes of the game. Martin said the coaching staff wanted to present Eastern Illinois a different look than it had shown in recent seasons, in part because Panthers assistant coach Quinn Peterson spent last season as a graduate assistant on Martin's staff.

2. The two freshmen from Springfield showed promising flashes. Brookshire had appeared to press during his first eight games, but after he drained a three-pointer from the left corner in the first half, he settled in. Brookshire later made another triple from the same spot. Martin said the two threes not only gave Brookshire confidence, but helped open up more of the floor for him.

"When he’s a threat to make three-point shots, then you have to guard him differently," Martin said. "... Fortunately and unfortunately sometimes guys gauge their games on their shot going in and they play differently, but for him, it worked out tonight.”

Entering Tuesday, Brookshire had missed the first 13 shots of his college career from three-point range. In recent days, he said his focus wasn't so much on finding his three-point stroke, but finding other ways to contribute on the offensive end. He showed some of that ability in the second half. He knifed through the defense for a layup and dished assists both in the half-court and in transition. The highlight of the night came when he lofted a lob to DaJuan Gordon for a one-handed alley-oop.

"Eventually I knew the shots would fall, but I have to get to the point where what am I doing besides just making the shot," Brookshire said. "Whether it’s on the defensive end, encouraging my teammates on the bench when I’m not in. And so I think I’ve been doing a great job with that."

Brookshire's former high school teammate, Brazile, made his season debut after an unspecified medical condition sidelined him for the team's first eight games. Martin said Brazile, who just recently got cleared to resume practicing, got winded quickly Tuesday night, but he showed some explosiveness that Missouri has lacked this year. In addition to his alley-oop from Brookshire, Brazile tried to throw down two other dunks in transition, drawing fouls on both. Gordon called him "the best athlete on the team."

"There’s been a lot of great players that have played here," Martin said. "When you’re talking athleticism, he’s up there."

Brazile finished with four points, two rebounds and a block in 14 minutes. Martin said he expects Brazile's role to continue to expand as he gets back into game shape.

"I thought before he went down I thought he had an opportunity to be a starter for us, without question."

3. Brown didn't have to do everything tonight. Nine of Missouri's 11 players scored, and four reached double figures. In addition to Brown's 11 points, Davis had 15, Gordon scored 14 and Javon Pickett chipped in 10.

If Missouri can maintain that kind of balance moving forward, it would likely go a long way. Entering Tuesday, Brown and Davis were the only players on the roster averaging double-digit points per game.

4. The defensive numbers looked good, but don't read too much into it. Eastern Illinois has been epically bad on offense all season. After Tuesday's game, the Panthers rank No. 354 nationally in offensive efficiency. They rank fifth-to-last in the country in field goal percentage, fourth-to-last in turnover rate, third-to-last in two-point percentage and dead last in steals allowed.

Those woes were on display against Missouri. Eastern Illinois shot 18-50 from the field, including 4-17 from three-point range. They turned the ball over 19 times, and Missouri scored 26 points off those giveaways.

While Eastern Illinois' 44 points marked the second-lowest total Missouri has allowed across the past two seasons, Martin said his team's defense "still has a ways to go."

"I think if there’s a percentage," he said, "we’re probably 60 percent of where we would like to be defensively."

5. The schedule gets a whole lot tougher from here. Tuesday's game represented Missouri's final matchup of the regular season against mid-major competition. While Missouri didn't emerge from the first nine games as well as Martin surely would have liked, having dropped games to UMKC and Liberty, he said he's excited for the competition to improve. That will start in earnest Saturday, when Missouri travels to No. 8 Kansas for the first meeting between the longtime rivals since 2012.

“I’d simply say it’s a street fight from this point on," Martin said. "I mean, as a player, as a coach, I love it. I look forward to it. That’s why you do this. I wouldn’t want it any other way if I was a player. Tremendous opportunities, and we’ll be ready to battle.”

Amari Davis led Missouri with 15 points during the team's win over Eastern Illinois.
Amari Davis led Missouri with 15 points during the team's win over Eastern Illinois. (Megan Fox/PowerMizzou)

Star of the Game: Amari Davis kept Missouri afloat during another one of Its characteristic slow starts, scoring 11 points in the first half. He finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds and a steal. Davis, playing more point guard than he did early in the season, has cemented himself as a reliable offensive option. He's now scored at least 13 points in six consecutive games.

Room for Improvement: Three-point shooting. It didn't bite Missouri against Eastern Illinois, but the team will need to improve in a hurry from behind the arc if it's to hang with improved competition. The Tigers are now shooting 24.0 percent from three-point range on the season, which ranks 353rd in the country.

What it means: Missouri will finish this season with at least five wins. Other than that, it's hard to draw too many conclusions about a win over a team that has lost to the likes of Albany, Evansville and Northern Illinois this year.

Next up: Missouri will face Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Jayhawks have started the season 7-1, with their lone loss coming to Dayton. Tipoff is set for 2:15 p.m.

Quotable: “I’ve always been a guy — I don’t know if I got it from my elementary school coach or my high school coach — you can never take wins for granted because you never know when you’ll get the next one. And even those years we’ve had a lot of success. So that always stuck with me, just understanding you value wins." -- Cuonzo Martin


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