Since June, when the Missouri basketball team reported to campus, Cuonzo Martin has tried to make Kobe Brown embrace his a role as the team's go-to guy. All year, Brown has led the Tigers in scoring, but Martin still pushed the junior forward to adopt a more aggressive mindset.
Finally, during the second half of Missouri's matchup against Utah on Saturday, Brown took over offensively.
Brown scored just four points in nine minutes during the first half. For the second game in a row, he sat on the bench for the final eight minutes and change prior to the break after picking up his second foul. But after halftime, Missouri looked to get Brown the ball in the low post on seemingly every possession. And just about every time the Tigers did so, Brown delivered by scoring, drawing a foul or both. Brown scored 23 second-half points, which boosted him to a career-high 27 for the game. At one point, he scored 12 straight points for the Tigers.
"It was something they were just giving me," Brown said. "The coaches have been on me all week about being more aggressive, scoring the ball around the rim and just getting to my spots. So I just tried to come out and do that.”
By the end of Brown's 12-point scoring spree, Missouri led by four points. The Tigers would never trail again, pulling away for an 85-73 victory. The win, Missouri's first this season against a high-major opponent, improved the team to 6-5 on the season.
Here are five things we learned from the victory.
1. Brown showed why the coaching staff wants him to be more selfish. Martin said Brown typically plays with the mindset of a point guard, which is why the Tigers have used the 6-foot-8 forward to run the offense at times this season. But with Utah missing center Branden Carlson, who leads the Utes in scoring, rebounding and blocks this season, the staff saw an opportunity for Brown to assert himself down low.
It took more than 20 minutes, but Brown delivered.
"If he had the mindset that I’m scoring the ball 20 points a night, he’ll score 20 points a night," Martin said of Brown. "... We just gotta get him to work that mindset. If he can look to score it every time down, I mean, it wouldn’t shock me if he scored 20 a night.”
Part of what sparked Brown to assert himself more was sitting on the bench with two fouls for the second game in a row. Brown said being sidelined "made me hungrier."
He wasted little time before showing a more aggressive mindset in the second half. On Missouri's first possession after the break, he scored, drew a foul on Utah's Riley Battin, and finished off the three-point play at the line.
That would be a sign of things to come. Brown drew a whopping eight fouls in the second half. He almost singlehandedly caused Battin to foul out. All 27 of his points came in the paint or at the free throw line.
"In the first half, even before the two fouls, I thought he was passive, screening, wait and stand," Martin said of Brown. "And I just said every time you pass, move to the action. So that means you’re setting the ball screen, you’re sprinting on that side of the ball to post up. Move to the action every time you pass the ball, so now you have to get the ball. I think that was very helpful for him to force him."
Once Brown got untracked offensively, the team ran its offensive almost exclusively through him. Even his third foul, picked up less than three minutes into the second half, didn't slow him down. Martin sat him for just two minutes, then Brown promptly converted consecutive and-ones upon returning to the floor.
"We were going to roll with him," Martin said, "and if he fouled out, he fouls out."
Brown played the final 15 minutes without fouling out. And once it became apparent that no one on the Utah defense could stop him around the rim, Missouri's offensive game plan became simple: Get the ball to Brown and get out of the way.
"He’s very strong, he was the biggest on the court, so we were just going to keep going to him, feeding him," said senior Javon Pickett. "He was knocking the free throws down when we found him, so it was a good night.”
2. Unlike a week ago, Mizzou managed to stay afloat with Brown on the bench due to foul trouble. Brown left the floor at almost the exact same point in the first half as he did during Missouri's loss to Kansas. Even though the Tigers got outscored 21-6 by the Jayhawks with Brown out of the game, Martin stuck to his strategy of keeping Brown on the bench until the start of the second half.
This time, the supporting cast kept the Tigers in the game, thanks largely to their defense. Both teams mustered just seven points during the final eight minutes of the first half.
One player who came through on the offensive end was guard Amari Davis. The Green Bay transfer didn't start Saturday after failing to score at Kansas. But against Utah, he scored 11 first-half points and 17 in the game.
Davis, who had been playing more point guard across Missouri's last few games, moved back off the ball against Utah. The adjustment unlocked his potent mid-range game. He made seven of 13 field goal attempts.
“I felt like I needed this game," Davis said. "Last game I didn't play so good, but I knew that coach had a plan, and his plan, it worked in my favor. I came off the bench, and the team needed me, and I came in on both ends of the floor, offense and defense, and provided a spark.”
3. Along with feeding Brown, Mizzou made another key offensive adjustment in the second half: shooting fewer three-pointers.
Missouri has struggled from behind the arc all season, and those woes continued early Saturday. The Tigers made just two of 16 three-point attempts during the opening 20 minutes. They're now shooting 24.1 percent from behind the arc on the season.
Martin said the coaching staff was worried about that coming into the matchup. Utah's defense invites opponents to shoot from deep. At halftime, Martin told his team only to shoot from behind the arc if the looks were wide open.
“He was just saying get the ball inside," Davis said. "He knew the type of offense we were running, we could get to the paint, make decisions, pass it out for a finish to the rim. So he said, you know, don’t settle for threes. Get in the paint, go to the free throw line.”
The adjustment paid off. Missouri attempted just five three-pointers in the second half. It got to the free throw line 23 times after attempting six free throws in the first half.
"I told those guys, ... if they’re backed up, drive it," Martin said. "Drive it. Put pressure on the defense, force them to foul. Because we were settling."
4. Mizzou went small for most of the game, yet still dominated around the basket. Seven-foot-three center Jordan Wilmore never left the bench, and freshman Yaya Keita played just eight minutes. That meant, for the remainder of the contest, Brown, Ronnie DeGray or Trevon Brazile manned the five spot.
While those players don't have the size of Wilmore or Keita, they more than held their own. Missouri won the rebounding battle 41-33. The Tigers turned 16 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. In perhaps the most telling stat of the game, Missouri out-scored Utah 38-16 in the paint. That made up for Utah making 10 three-pointers compared to four for Missouri.
Asked why Wilmore didn't play, Martin answered with just one word: "production."
5. The Tigers have actually been pretty good in close games this season. Missouri is now 3-1 in games decided by 10 points or less.
The problem has generally been the game getting away from the Tigers early. In Missouri's four losses to UMKC, Liberty, Florida State and Kansas, the team's average deficit at halftime has been 17.75 points.
Missouri never trailed by more than five points against Utah. Neither team led by more than five until the final 20 seconds of the game.
Star of the Game: It's rare to see a player take over a game to the degree Brown did. He delivered on seemingly every possession during the second half, despite the fact that Utah had to know he was getting the ball. He only needed 11 shots to score 27 points, converting 8-11 field goals and 11-13 free throws. The performance marked the fifth 20-point game of Brown's college career. Four have come this season.
Room for Improvement: Everyone knows three-point shooting has been a major weakness for Missouri. But the Tigers' defense behind the arc has been an issue as well. Missouri entered the game allowing opponents to convert three-pointers at a 37.4-percent clip. Utah made 10 of 25 attempts from behind the arc. Saturday marked the seventh time in 11 games this season that the opposing team has shot 40 percent or better from three-point range. Missouri now ranks No. 314 nationally in three-point defense.
What it means: Despite the early struggles, this team showed that it's still willing to fight. And there's now at least tangible reason to believe Missouri could pick up a few wins in SEC play. Prior to Saturday, Missouri had lost its two matchups against high-major opponents by an average of 30 points.
Next up: Missouri will face Illinois in the annual Braggin' Rights rivalry on Wednesday. The game will be played in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
Quotable: “I think we’ve done a better job, as opposed to when we started, of sharing the basketball. For some reason, I thought we were great in our scrimmages of sharing the ball and moving, then all of a sudden, lights turned on, it’s like that ball was sticking a little bit. So we’re growing out of that. We’re growing into who we are. But I think we still have to get stronger. We gotta get stronger here, we gotta continue to get stronger with playing each other, moving the ball, sharing the ball.” -- Cuonzo Martin
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