Smith paces Tigers to history
NASHVILLE -- Amber Smith did everything she could and more to help Missouri to victory — and history — with Sophie Cunningham effectively taken out of the equation against a suffocating Mississippi defense Thursday night.
The sophomore guard had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists in No. 14 Missouri’s 59-50 win over Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament Thursday night. It was the first SEC Tournament win for the Tigers — ever. They had gone 0-5 in the conference postseason since joining the league in 2012.
“The SEC is competitive and we want to come in here to make a long run,” Jordan Frericks said. “I think it’s very special to see where our team was and where it is now, and I think we’re just going to keep rolling with this. It’s just a special team.”
Smith ended many offensive droughts by finding ways to the basket that those watching didn’t even know were there. She dove for loose balls and won them. In the third quarter, she hobbled on her ankle after awkwardly landing on it, but she still made a jumper that stretched Missouri’s lead to seven.
Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton called Smith the Tigers’ X-factor, playing a similar style to Cunningham in that she is a hard guard, shoots the three, rebounds and wins those 50-50 balls.
“I credit all my teammates and coaches for putting me in a great position to get the ball,” Smith said. “And for outworking the other team.”
After committing her third personal foul, Cunningham walked dejectedly to the Missouri bench midway through the third quarter. Pingeton put her arm around Cunningham and talked in her ear for about 30 seconds. Cunningham nodded while the two watched the game unfold on the court.
When Cunningham came in four minutes later, she drained a three. Her presence was yet to be felt. Her 11 points all came in the second half after taking just one shot in the first half.
“They were pressuring me pretty hard, but my teammates were knocking down big shots and getting to the rim,” Cunningham said. “They have my back and I have theirs.”
It was a frustratingly defensive game an a fairly ugly offensive game for both teams: Missouri shot 49 percent off of 17-35 shooting, while Ole Miss shot only 28 percent, but stayed close by taking 29 more shots than the Tigers.
Missouri had 24 turnovers thanks to a stifling Ole Miss defense. That matches its season-high turnover total against Auburn on Feb. 15. Pingeton said there are a handful of teams in the SEC who play aggressive and make the game seem like it’s going faster than it is. Auburn and Ole Miss are two of those teams.
The last time Missouri scored fewer than 59 points was on Feb. 1 in a 57-53 loss to Mississippi State. Two games before that was a 62-50 loss to Georgia — which happens to be Missouri’s next opponent.
Georgia plays a similar defensive style to Ole Miss; the Bulldogs don’t let up on their pressure.
“We all know what we need to get done, so it is a little frustrating, but you have to move on. You can’t just dwell on it,” Cunningham said. “We have to make the adjustment overnight, and this team is good at that. So we will be better tomorrow.”
Missouri will need to fix the turnover problem, and fast. The matchup is set for around 8:30 p.m. on Friday after Tennessee and South Carolina play at 6 p.m. The winners of those two games meet in Saturday's semifinals.
“Against a team like Georgia, you have 24 turnovers, you’re not going to have a shot in heck at winning,” Pingeton said.
Seven seemed to be the number of the first quarter. The Tigers were 7-7 from the field, but they had seven turnovers, which allowed Ole Miss to only trail by four.
Missouri stretched its lead to almost 10 in the second quarter, but it quickly diminished, thanks to four more turnovers and an 8-0 Rebel run to end the half. It wasn’t that the Tigers were missing a ton of shots, it’s that they just weren’t attempting them. Ole Miss’ defensive effort smothered the Tigers, who had two shot clock violations in the half.
“We just can’t get sped up,” Cunningham said. “We just have to welcome the pressure and find the open man.”
Missouri’s opponents can game-plan to take away the Tigers' most efficient and leading scorer in Cunningham, but that leaves for the open player to be just about any other Tiger. Thursday night, that was Amber Smith.