The Tigers keep creating for others
The infusion of point guards on Missouri’s roster has made a dramatic difference in the team’s ability to take care of the basketball. Last year, Mizzou had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 399-to-476, or 0.84 — a bottom-60 mark in the NCAA. Through three games this year, the Tigers’ have upgraded the ratio to 64-36, or 1.78, which currently ranks 28th in the country.
Mizzou has improved in both aspects of the formula. According to KenPom, the team is earning assists on 63.9% of its field goals made and is only coughing the ball up on 15.9% of its possessions, both of which rank in the top 100 in the nation.
The dimes aren’t all coming from a single player, either. Senior guards Sean East II, Tre Gomillion and Nick Honor and senior forward Kobe Brown are all averaging at least three assists per game.
It’s encouraging that, even in a game like Sunday’s against Lindenwood where Mizzou gives the ball up a few more times than usual, the Tigers still come out on the positive side with a season-high 24 assists and 16 turnovers.
D’Moi Hodge is still an elite finisher
In two years at Cleveland State, the British Virgin Islands native connected on 59.0% of his 2-pointers. Though Hodge has only had eight shots inside the arc through three games with Mizzou this year, he’s only missed one of them. His 87.5 shooting percentage on 2-pointers ranks 35th in the NCAA.
The graduate guard might be the team’s most dangerous player in transition, and for a team that likes to push the pace, it’s an important role to play. There was a 64-second stretch in the second half of Sunday’s game in which Hodge scored a 3-pointer and two layups on consecutive possessions for a single-handed 7-2 run. Both the 3 and one of the layups came on fast breaks.
“He's one of the fastest players, I think, in the country going from a defensive stance to an offensive threat,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “And it's a very important thing that you see guys being able to win those transitions from one hand to the next. (His) anticipation is very good.”
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