That first half went about as expected, which is to say, ugly. Honestly, I can’t believe Missouri has the lead. A lot of these thoughts will probably read a little bit harsh considering the Tigers are winning, but I started writing them before that late run and the offense was still pretty appalling overall.
Coming in, it sounded easy to say Missouri should be the better team if it just executed on offense, but for the majority of the past month, that’s not who Missouri has been. This team is turnover prone, it can’t shoot and it really only has a couple dependable offensive players. All those issues were on display again in that first half. Mizzou turned the ball over 10 times, leading to eight Texas A&M points. Now, A&M does force turnovers better than almost anyone, but a lot of those were just unforced errors in ball-handling and passing or stupid plays like not realizing when you can or cannot run the baseline. Xavier Pinson and Jeremiah Tilmon continue to be the only consistent scoring options Missouri has. Those two need to be on the floor for the remainder of the game unless they get into foul trouble, and Mizzou needs to do a better job of getting Tilmon the ball. He has eight points on three shot attempts. Mark Smith has pretty much become an offensive liability and Kobe Brown was a no-show in that half. Now, Dru Smith did make a few nice plays and Javon Pickett provided a spark at the end of the half, which you like to see, so if they can keep that going in the second half to give the Tigers a few more scoring options, that would be big.
On the other end, Mizzou has clearly been okay to let Texas A&M shoot from the perimeter. Early on, it looked like that might burn them. Texas A&M, which entered today shooting 29.9 percent from three-point range, made four of its first six triples, but it has since returned to form by missing its next six. The Aggies didn’t score for the final 4:04 of the half, missing their last 11 shots. So you have to tip your cap to Mizzou there. The one concern for Missouri defensively is they haven’t forced a ton of turnovers (seven in a half may seem like a lot, but it’s not by A&M’s standards) and haven’t taken advantage of any of them, scoring zero points off turnovers. Mizzou has just two total fast break points, which is generally the best way for this offense to score.
Last thing: There were only three total free throws attempted in that half. While that is nice for viewers, I have come to the conclusion this season that letting the teams play actually hurts Mizzou. The Tigers have scored nearly a quarter of their points at the free throw line this season. A lot of the time when the guards (especially Dru Smith) penetrate, they pretty much just put their heads down and hope for a foul. We’ll see if they refs stay consistent in the second half or overcorrect and start whistling everything, something we’ve certainly seen in the past in college basketball.
Coming in, it sounded easy to say Missouri should be the better team if it just executed on offense, but for the majority of the past month, that’s not who Missouri has been. This team is turnover prone, it can’t shoot and it really only has a couple dependable offensive players. All those issues were on display again in that first half. Mizzou turned the ball over 10 times, leading to eight Texas A&M points. Now, A&M does force turnovers better than almost anyone, but a lot of those were just unforced errors in ball-handling and passing or stupid plays like not realizing when you can or cannot run the baseline. Xavier Pinson and Jeremiah Tilmon continue to be the only consistent scoring options Missouri has. Those two need to be on the floor for the remainder of the game unless they get into foul trouble, and Mizzou needs to do a better job of getting Tilmon the ball. He has eight points on three shot attempts. Mark Smith has pretty much become an offensive liability and Kobe Brown was a no-show in that half. Now, Dru Smith did make a few nice plays and Javon Pickett provided a spark at the end of the half, which you like to see, so if they can keep that going in the second half to give the Tigers a few more scoring options, that would be big.
On the other end, Mizzou has clearly been okay to let Texas A&M shoot from the perimeter. Early on, it looked like that might burn them. Texas A&M, which entered today shooting 29.9 percent from three-point range, made four of its first six triples, but it has since returned to form by missing its next six. The Aggies didn’t score for the final 4:04 of the half, missing their last 11 shots. So you have to tip your cap to Mizzou there. The one concern for Missouri defensively is they haven’t forced a ton of turnovers (seven in a half may seem like a lot, but it’s not by A&M’s standards) and haven’t taken advantage of any of them, scoring zero points off turnovers. Mizzou has just two total fast break points, which is generally the best way for this offense to score.
Last thing: There were only three total free throws attempted in that half. While that is nice for viewers, I have come to the conclusion this season that letting the teams play actually hurts Mizzou. The Tigers have scored nearly a quarter of their points at the free throw line this season. A lot of the time when the guards (especially Dru Smith) penetrate, they pretty much just put their heads down and hope for a foul. We’ll see if they refs stay consistent in the second half or overcorrect and start whistling everything, something we’ve certainly seen in the past in college basketball.
