Gabe's doing halftime radio, so I'm here to inevitably disappoint you all with my halftime thoughts.
-First off, what a half from Jeremiah Tilmon. I think this is the kind of game Cuonzo has been hoping he'd have for a while now. When he's allowed to be physical down low like he has today, he's damn near impossible to stop. Some of his shot selection has been questionable, but if those start falling, it's something you can live with.
-When these teams met in January, Tilmon and Porter got punked by Arkansas' bigs. Talk about a role reversal. Other than a couple of baskets from Daniel Gafford, who is one of four Razorbacks with two fouls, Missouri has been dominant in the paint. Between Jontay, Tilmon and Puryear, I don't know that you can ask for much more than you've gotten.
-Jordan Barnett is showing how much of an asset he can be, even if isn't leading this group in scoring. With his athleticism and size, there's really no reason he shouldn't be getting 7-8 boards a game, and he's already got 7 in the first half. Cuonzo has said he's not going to push Barnett with his offensive game, but something has gotten into him. 15-16 points and 7-8 rebounds should a normal night for him.
-I'm a little surprised we haven't seen more of Arkansas' press thus far, especially with how successful it was in Fayetteville six weeks ago. Missouri getting a couple guys in foul trouble is surely going to affect that, but even with that, I still expected to see them put some pressure on Geist, Robertson, etc.
-That being said, I think we'll see them turn up the pressure here in the second half. Missouri has done a great job of taking care of the ball early on, but it feels like we're going to get one of those stretches of 4-5 turnovers in a row at some point this half. If they can avoid that and keep playing with the ball movement and efficiency they have going right now, there's no reason they shouldn't walk away with an NCAA Tournament berth in hand tonight.
-First off, what a half from Jeremiah Tilmon. I think this is the kind of game Cuonzo has been hoping he'd have for a while now. When he's allowed to be physical down low like he has today, he's damn near impossible to stop. Some of his shot selection has been questionable, but if those start falling, it's something you can live with.
-When these teams met in January, Tilmon and Porter got punked by Arkansas' bigs. Talk about a role reversal. Other than a couple of baskets from Daniel Gafford, who is one of four Razorbacks with two fouls, Missouri has been dominant in the paint. Between Jontay, Tilmon and Puryear, I don't know that you can ask for much more than you've gotten.
-Jordan Barnett is showing how much of an asset he can be, even if isn't leading this group in scoring. With his athleticism and size, there's really no reason he shouldn't be getting 7-8 boards a game, and he's already got 7 in the first half. Cuonzo has said he's not going to push Barnett with his offensive game, but something has gotten into him. 15-16 points and 7-8 rebounds should a normal night for him.
-I'm a little surprised we haven't seen more of Arkansas' press thus far, especially with how successful it was in Fayetteville six weeks ago. Missouri getting a couple guys in foul trouble is surely going to affect that, but even with that, I still expected to see them put some pressure on Geist, Robertson, etc.
-That being said, I think we'll see them turn up the pressure here in the second half. Missouri has done a great job of taking care of the ball early on, but it feels like we're going to get one of those stretches of 4-5 turnovers in a row at some point this half. If they can avoid that and keep playing with the ball movement and efficiency they have going right now, there's no reason they shouldn't walk away with an NCAA Tournament berth in hand tonight.
