Post-Game Report: Mizzou overcomes slow start, powers past Texas A&M
In its first game in 11 days due to a COVID-19 induced pause, Missouri started a bit sluggish. The team turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and trailed Texas A&M 24-17 with four minutes left in the first half.
From there, the Tigers took control and never looked back. Missouri scored the final 10 points of the first half, including five points from sixth-man Javon Pickett, then had separate 8-0 and 11-0 runs during the first 10 minute of the first half (the latter of which included a rare seven-point possession). In total, Missouri out-scored Texas A&M 35-10 during the 14-minute stretch, then cruised to a 68-52 win to bring the Tigers back to .500 in SEC play.
Below is our full report on the win, starting with five things we learned.
* Jeremiah Tilmon is playing the best basketball of his career. The senior has flashed his ability at times during his four years in a Mizzou uniform, but he's never sustained it across multiple games like he has in the past few weeks. Against Texas A&M, Tilmon logged 14 points, 10 rebounds. Across Missouri's past three games, Tilmon is averaging 18.3 points and nine rebounds. He's shooting 73.5 percent form the floor since conference play began.
Perhaps most importantly, he's staying on the floor. Tilmon has played at least 27 minutes in each of the past four games, and he played 33 on Saturday. He got called for just one foul during that time. He noted that not getting into foul trouble has helped him stay aggressive on the defensive end, where he recorded a season-high three blocks against Texas A&M. Missouri's defense held the Aggies to just 4-10 shooting on layups.
"I’m so happy for him," head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "The way he’s playing, the pace, the poise, the maturity, the things that he says in huddles and just all that, just makes you feel proud as a coach because he’s made progress every year. You start to see his hard work pay off."
On the other end of the floor, Tilmon looked composed and controlled, two words that haven't been used often to describe him during his college career. Texas A&M double-teamed him virtually every time he touched the ball on the low block, yet Tilmon consistently beat the double-team, either by scoring through it or passing out of it. He made five of six field goal attempts Saturday.
“When I’m getting the ball, I’m making sure I’m not just bouncing it or just moving crazy, because like you all said earlier, the double team's coming," Tilmon said. "I’m making sure I’m looking for that pass out and which way they coming from, so try to go hurry up and get a basket, stuff like that. So yeah, I’m just being calm, I’m not trying to force anything at all.”
Tilmon called the past three games the best stretch of his basketball career. Martin attributed the hot streak to all the work he has put in during practices and workouts — keeping his body in shape and healthy, recognizing defenses, knowing where his teammates are. Yet he believes Tilmon can still play even better.
"If I was a betting man — and I’m not a gambler — I’d say he’s at 75 percent right now, the way he’s playing," Martin said.
* When Pickett plays well, it continues to be a good thing for Missouri. The Tigers are now 11-1 across the past two seasons when Pickett scores in double-figures, including 4-0 this year.
Pickett keyed Missouri's run at the end of the first half by knocking down a three-pointer and a mid-range jumper on consecutive possessions. In the second half, he scored on a drive to the basket, a put-back and a baseline out of bounds play. His ability to guard opposing power forwards allowed Missouri to go with a smaller lineup at times, which helped it find eight points in transition during the second half after scoring just two such points in the first.
Martin said physical games like Saturday's typically bode well for the hard-nosed Pickett. And when Pickett gets going, that bodes well for Missouri as a whole.
“In most cases, when it’s a physical brand, that’s up Javon’s alley," Martin said. "We need him to be that type of guy, and he’s also one of those guys who can go smaller at the four position."
* When Missouri's offense is playing at its best, the Tigers are balanced and able to find some easy shots around the rim. It wasn't just Pickett and Tilmon who scored in double-figures Saturday; senior guard Dru Smith, who had struggled of late, actually led the way with 15 points. Smith also added six rebounds, six assists and four steals. Kobe Brown chipped in nine points as well, with seven coming in the second half. Xavier Pinson added seven, Mitchell Smith scored six.
Martin was particularly complimentary of Brown, who added five rebounds and two blocks. He called the performance Brown's best game in a Mizzou uniform.
"I thought Kobe played an extraordinary game on both sides of the ball," he said.
Finding more scoring threats aside from just Tilmon helped crack the stingy Texas A&M defense. Last week, Martin said, the coaching staff showed players on film how aggressively opponents have been double-teaming Tilmon, pointing out that created opportunities for other players to drive to the rim. When the Tigers, who once again shot right around their season average of 27.3 percent from three-point range, found those interior opportunities, the offense flourished. Missouri out-scored Texas A&M 36-13 in the paint. Twenty-two of those points came in the final 20 minutes.
"That’s who we are," Martin said. "We’re a team that shares the ball, we play together. Doesn’t matter who leads us in scoring. They really enjoy playing with each other, being with each other. (Pinson) didn’t have one of his better games but he was the best cheerleader on the sidelines. They brought the right things, man, they value the right things, and all they want to do is win basketball games."
* Not only did Missouri find a spark on the offensive end after a slow start, the Tigers settled in on the defensive end and suffocated Texas A&M. The Aggies, who entered Saturday shooting 29.9 percent from behind the arc, made four of their first six three-point field goals and 10 of 21 from the floor to start the game. They then missed their next seven shots from deep and 14 of 15 total field goals.
Martin said the staff didn't make any defensive adjustments; the team simply settled in and cleaned up some early errors. He said Dru Smith, in particular, gave up about 10 points in the early going due to defensive breakdowns. But once the team dialed in on the defensive end, it looked like a Martin-coached defense. Texas A&M's 52 points represented a season low. The Tigers have now held six of 10 opponents under 40 percent shooting.
"Settled down and played basketball," Martin said of the defensive turnaround. "Don’t allow your offense to dictate how you defend."
* The last time Missouri took the floor, it built a 14-point lead in the first 15 minutes before watching that lead evaporate in the second half. The Tigers ultimately lost by 15. Saturday represented the inverse. Missouri started slow but took control of the game late in the first half and never relinquished its grip.
Texas A&M gave Missouri an opportunity to falter, too. With about five minutes left, the Aggies scored eight straight points to cut Missouri's lead to 10, perhaps inducing flashbacks from the previous game. But Martin called a timeout to stop the run and the Tigers swiftly responded. Brown, who scored just five points against Mississippi State, hit a short jumper out of the timeout, then the next possession he drove and scored. The following defensive trip, he got a steal and found Dru Smith for a fastbreak layup.
Tilmon acknowledged that the second half collapse against Mississippi State was on the team's mind when Texas A&M made its run. The difference this time, he said, was players reminding one another to stay aggressive.
"Coach Martin’s been emphasizing somebody to make sure when we’re getting sidetracked and when we’re already up and they start coming back, somebody make it be known that we’re not playing as hard as we normally play," Tilmon said. "So we’re all just making sure we were just saying, like, keep playing, because they’re catching back up and we’re kind of going down, let’s keep going up. Stuff like that.”
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: The one starter who did not have a good game Saturday was Mark Smith. Smith continued his recent slump by scoring just three points on 1-8 shooting. He missed his first five three-point attempts. After averaging 17.5 points per game across Missouri's past four games, he's averaged just 6.8 in the past six.
Martin made clear that he wants Smith, who is still shooting 36 percent from behind the arc on the season, to keep shooting the three-ball when he's open. He said the Tigers need those shots to fall, because when Smith is making shots, the rest of his game improves, as well.
"If he’s open from three every time, we need that ball to go up," Martin said. "Because he can make shots. We need the ball to go in for Mark because he’s a guy that works extremely hard, works on his game, and he puts pressure on himself if his shot isn’t falling. ... He’s a different player when his shots fall, because he’s defending at a different level, he’s rebounding, he’s doing all those things."
STAR OF THE GAME: It's a tough call between Tilmon and Dru Smith, who bounced back from a rough few games Saturday, but we have to go with the big man. As Martin said after the game, there was no question who the most dominant player on the floor was Saturday. Tilmon kept Missouri afloat with his eight points in the first half and the Tigers out-scored Texas A&M by 23 points when he was on the floor. The past three games, he's looked like the all-conference caliber player fans have hoped to see for four years.
"If he’s that guy, there’s not many in America that’s better," Martin said. "There might be some that’s just as good. But high level of player on both sides of the ball, and then doing it efficiently without fouling. ... Really impressive."
WHAT IT MEANS: A win over Texas A&M isn't going to jump off Missouri's resume, but it could give the Tigers some much-needed momentum after a deflating loss and subsequent pause in team activities. If Missouri is going to seriously contend for a top-four finish in the league, it needs to take care of business against teams like Texas A&M, and the Tigers did that Saturday.
QUOTABLE: “It was a physical one. It was one of those ones, you start out with some boxing gloves on, eventually you get to playing some ball. But it was fun to be a part of." -- Cuonzo Martin
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