Stats that stood out against LSU
Mizzou keeps moving the ball
Missouri made 33 field goals in an 87-77 win over LSU on Wednesday. Twenty-six of the buckets were assisted on.
It’s the 10th time this season MU has handed out at least 20 assists. Before this year, the team hadn’t had a single game with 20-plus assists since the 2017-18 season. Ten is the highest number of games the program has had 20-plus assists since the 2008-09 season, when the Tigers did so in 14 games.
Per KenPom, 58.5% of the team’s field goals have been assisted on, which ranks 27th in the country. Mizzou’s ball movement is a team effort. Nine of the 10 players that saw the floor on Wednesday were credited with a dime.
“I think it's by committee,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “ I look at it as risk-takers.”
Gates said he considers Sean East II to be the team’s biggest risk-taker, comparing the senior point guard to a quarterback. East isn’t afraid make an early pass ahead in transition, no matter how far up the floor his teammate already is.
East led Mizzou with six assists in its most recent win. He is second on the team this year averaging 3.0 per game, only trailing fellow senior point guard Nick Honor, who averages 3.1.
Gates noted it helps to have a ball-mover like senior forward Kobe Brown, who had five assists against LSU. On other teams, the ball might move into the post and never come back out. That’s not the case with Brown, who is up to a career-high 2.7 assists per game this year.
Senior guard Isiaih Mosley might have the best vision on the team. Gates commended the way the Columbia, Mo. native is able to read the floor well, whether it be a lob or a skip pass. Mosley has an assist rate of 24.5 according to KenPom, the highest mark on the roster.
Missouri committed 11 turnovers in Wednesday’s game, a few too many from posting the best assist-to-turnover ratio of the season. The Tigers will have more opportunities to top themselves, and potentially top the 2008-09 squad. They’re up to 383 total assists on the year, 184 away from tying the 1990-91 team for fifth-most in a season in program history.
“Ultimately, being able to set those plays up gives our guys confidence to take the risks that they take,” Gates said. “Our guys play with an unselfish spirit.”
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