I actually still have a preview to write for tomorrow's game, but figured I'd put these up while people are still awake. Most importantly, Mizzou got a win, and its season is still alive. It wasn't the prettiest, but that doesn't matter at this time of year.
Good for Jordan Geist. The senior capped off a breakout year with a career-high 30 points. It's always nice to see such concrete proof of hard work paying off. It was kind of a weird 30-point performance, at no point did it feel like he was on fire or Georgia couldn't stop him, but as Cuonzo Martin said after the game, it was a testament to his level of toughness and fight that he just kept finding ways to get into the paint and score.
Aside from the fouls in the first half, Xavier Pinson followed up a good game Saturday with another good game today, which is always encouraging. As usual, Pinson made a couple plays that made everyone in the arena gasp, but more importantly he didn't have many of the negative plays tonight. Just one turnover in 23 minutes. Reed Nikko and Mitchell Smith also gave valuable minutes. A few weeks ago, I would have said Smith was probably the most likely candidate to transfer in the offseason, but I'm not sure that's true now. The two charges he took on Claxton were enormous and his shooting ability could be a valuable weapon. He's showed some impressive flashes on both the offensive and defensive ends in the past few games.
I don't know if Javon Pickett is still less than 100 percent, I would guess so, but he had a rough night. Torrence Watson finally came back to earth, and Jeremiah Tilmon battled foul trouble and wasn't a huge factor when he was on the floor. Those three combined to shoot 1-17 from the field. In one sense, I suppose it is encouraging that the team got a win without them playing well. At the same time, Missouri absolutely needs them to play better tomorrow. That brings me to my main takeaway: Georgia is a bad basketball team. The Bulldogs missed a ton of wide open looks. They shot 4 of 19 from three, missed 15 free throws and two dunks. Missouri will have to play better defense tomorrow. All in all, I think you're always happy with a postseason win, but this doesn't change my expectation that Mizzou would need a minor miracle to advance to the quarterfinals.
Good for Jordan Geist. The senior capped off a breakout year with a career-high 30 points. It's always nice to see such concrete proof of hard work paying off. It was kind of a weird 30-point performance, at no point did it feel like he was on fire or Georgia couldn't stop him, but as Cuonzo Martin said after the game, it was a testament to his level of toughness and fight that he just kept finding ways to get into the paint and score.
Aside from the fouls in the first half, Xavier Pinson followed up a good game Saturday with another good game today, which is always encouraging. As usual, Pinson made a couple plays that made everyone in the arena gasp, but more importantly he didn't have many of the negative plays tonight. Just one turnover in 23 minutes. Reed Nikko and Mitchell Smith also gave valuable minutes. A few weeks ago, I would have said Smith was probably the most likely candidate to transfer in the offseason, but I'm not sure that's true now. The two charges he took on Claxton were enormous and his shooting ability could be a valuable weapon. He's showed some impressive flashes on both the offensive and defensive ends in the past few games.
I don't know if Javon Pickett is still less than 100 percent, I would guess so, but he had a rough night. Torrence Watson finally came back to earth, and Jeremiah Tilmon battled foul trouble and wasn't a huge factor when he was on the floor. Those three combined to shoot 1-17 from the field. In one sense, I suppose it is encouraging that the team got a win without them playing well. At the same time, Missouri absolutely needs them to play better tomorrow. That brings me to my main takeaway: Georgia is a bad basketball team. The Bulldogs missed a ton of wide open looks. They shot 4 of 19 from three, missed 15 free throws and two dunks. Missouri will have to play better defense tomorrow. All in all, I think you're always happy with a postseason win, but this doesn't change my expectation that Mizzou would need a minor miracle to advance to the quarterfinals.
