Sean East in the first half. Came off the bench to drop a dozen and hit some absolute stone cold shots. He also did a great job of breaking the press and pressuring UK's guards.


Then, in the 2nd half, Gholston comes out of nowhere and drops 10. Several buckets to answer runs, obviously the big 3, and clutch FTs.


Clearly Kobe was the overall best player on the court, but i don't think you can overlook the impact these two had in each half.

I see a lot of people using these last two wins as an opportunity to put Gates in the HOF and fire Drink. First let me say Gates has done every single thing right except lose to ku. But we couldn’t ask for a better result so far. However this notion of comparing the two seems insane. You are talking 12 man roster vs 85. You are talking a sport where the same guys play both sides of the ball vs a sport where everyone is in a specialized position. In BBall you can go from bad to good by just getting 2-3 great players regardless of position. In football that may not even move your W-L by a game. This is not knocking Gates down at all, I have a huge man crush. But let’s remember Zo went from having a top 10 team to fired in 13 months. Can’t think of another sport like that.

I was doing a lot of thinking about this tonight: is the narrative going in to these games shifting from:

“How is Mizzou going to handle the opposing teams size”

To

“How is the opposing team going to handle Mizzou’s speed”

since I've been to a Mizzou basketball game and yelled till I couldn't anymore. Saturday, Jan 7th, Vanderbilt, it's going to happen, can't wait.

Who else nationally is in that race this far

Ok, an impossible exercise I’ll grant you, but forget for a moment that we all really hate kansas and to a lesser extent Arkansas…that was a really good freaking game last night! Holy geez!

That was a clinic. And the Kentucky fans behind me knew it as well.

This is the time of year when people in the media like to tweet out their favorite stories they've written. In looking back for something else, I came across this story, which I believe is the most impactful I've ever covered or written in 20 years. I believe we were the first media outlet to report that Missouri's likely landing spot was the SEC (though I do know Doug Gottleib tweeted the Tigers had a spot there)


Just burning some time, figured some of you would enjoy the look back.

-Mizzou's defensive gameplan this game has been to deny Oscar Tshiebwe the ball at all costs and living and dying with the results. They've been surviving so far. Tshiebwe has only gotten a few shots off. Kentucky's gotten some really good looks along the 3-point line and they haven't been falling. The Tigers can pull this off if that continues to be the case.

-The Tigers have hung tough on the boards, which has helped tremendously. Tshiebwe is the only player who's really had any significant impact in that regard. On the other end, it's been a complete team effort by the Tigers, with seven different players getting credited with a board.

-"If I'm Nick Honor, I'm adding the rebound I got in this game to my career highlight reel." - @GabeD

-Another notable rebound: Aidan Shaw getting tangled up with Tshiebwe for a jump ball. Neither player wanted to let go. Shaw came out of there with it. Sean East was hyping him up on the sideline afterward. Big stuff from the rookie.

-D'Moi Hodge gives zero effs. He is Jon Snow unsheathing his sword as the Boltons charge toward him. He will drive into the heart of a defense 1-on-4 and still find a way to get a good shot out of it. He will pull up from deep off the catch, regardless of how close his defender is. He's fun to watch.

-Sean East seems like he plays so much better when Honor is on the floor. I don't know if it's because he doesn't feel as burdened as a point guard or if it's a change in the defensive matchup but it's odd how noticeable it is. East has been lights out tonight.

Beating Wake Forest was too ambitious a goal for this team. We weren’t good enough to beat them.

kU would have been much, much easier.

It’s kind of too bad. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Up to #35 in Kenpom. Nice little jump.

Being Christmas break it would sure be great if there were any basketball or football prospects there tonight ! Anyone spot anybody in that madhouse ? That was like the old days !

NM

Now it will hurt to lose.

My mood in the fall is determined by the final score.......I got some relief last winter. No epectations and no hope.

In football.....no matter the record it still hurts.

Now we get on this roller coaster...because that is what basketball is. Lots of games...tonight we look like a top ten team but we all know you can't be this every game.

There will be some nights when posters will wonder if Gates is the man and there will be nights when we all know he isn't the man...and then there will be nights like this one.

I don't follow the NBA very closely... But I am down in DFW with family and watching the Dallas v Knicks game.... If you want to see a guy put his team on his shoulders... Watch the last 5 minutes and OT. Doncic was not going to be denied.

60 points by Doncic. Triple double. Only Harden has accomplished the same.

What a fun night for sports!

Edit: this is posting from my phone and for some reason it posted way later than I typed it. Sorry it's stale, but a great game anyway.

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@ Arkansas loss
vs Vandy win
@ Texas A&M win
@ Florida win
vs Arkansas win
vs Alabama loss
@ Ole Miss win
vs Iowa St win
vs Lsu win
@ Miss St loss
vs South Carolina win
@ Tennessee loss
@ Auburn loss
vs Texas A&M win
vs Miss St win
@ Georgia win
@ Lsu loss
vs Ole Miss win

Final record: 24-7 overall
12-6 conference
#5 seed in tournament

Unbelievable game. This team just keeps getting better!!

Welcome to Mizzou Arena AKA The Gates of Hell!!!

Oh…and by the way, fcuk ku…

Prove me wrong.

My nomination for the unofficial nickname for Mizzou Arena. Discuss.

The focus today was solely on the basketball team.

And deservedly so given their performance.

I know it is early, and no one should already have an opinion, but many people do. Is it the vocal minority, or does most of PM, think we need to part ways with Drink?

Some good ideas via Ross at SI.

https://bit.ly/3Gq6pjG

When he was at Memphis the only team to give him problems was UAB with Anderson. Same in the tourney against Mizzou. IMO Gates running this kind of press with the movement on offense is not giving him good memories. Maybe retirement is in his future.