* If any of you can figure this team out, please enlighten me. Because I do not understand how the same starting five can go from leading Alabama 9-0 out of the gates to trailing Arkansas 18-3 at the first media timeout to leading Texas A&M 12-0 in the span of a week. There’s no way the home court means that much. But hey, enjoy being on the positive side of it when you get the chance, I guess.
* That said, I’m really not sure how well Missouri played in that half. Obviously it did some things right on defense to hold A&M without a bucket for nearly the first nine minutes, which I have never seen before. But the Tigers shot 13-29 from the field, 3-8 from three and 5-7 from the line. None of that is particularly impressive. They also got out-rebounded by one. More than anything, A&M was just inept offensively. The Aggies started 0-13 from the field and finished the half 9-34. Again, give the Missouri defense some credit. The defense has not been nearly up to Cuonzo Martin standards for much of this season, so that’s a welcome development. But I wouldn’t expect Texas A&M to shoot so poorly for the second half.
* Perhaps the best news from that first half was the fact that Missouri did much of it without Kobe Brown. Brown picked up his second foul with 10:31 left in and sat for the rest of the half, because apparently the coaching staff hasn’t learned their lesson. Today, it didn’t bite them. Missouri led by 8 when Brown left the game and now leads by 10. So far this season, Missouri hasn’t been able to beat a high-major opponent without Brown going nuclear, so the fact that the team is winning by double digits with just two points in seven minutes from him is cause for optimism.
* The reason Missouri was able to survive Brown’s absence is that nearly all of the supporting cast has chipped in. A bench that scored two points in like 60 minutes at Arkansas already has eight today, six of those from Ronnie DeGray, who has had a nice game. Javon Pickett has been his usual crafty self and DaJuan Gordon has hit a couple threes. If Missouri can just get something from those guys, it's a positive.
* That said, I’m really not sure how well Missouri played in that half. Obviously it did some things right on defense to hold A&M without a bucket for nearly the first nine minutes, which I have never seen before. But the Tigers shot 13-29 from the field, 3-8 from three and 5-7 from the line. None of that is particularly impressive. They also got out-rebounded by one. More than anything, A&M was just inept offensively. The Aggies started 0-13 from the field and finished the half 9-34. Again, give the Missouri defense some credit. The defense has not been nearly up to Cuonzo Martin standards for much of this season, so that’s a welcome development. But I wouldn’t expect Texas A&M to shoot so poorly for the second half.
* Perhaps the best news from that first half was the fact that Missouri did much of it without Kobe Brown. Brown picked up his second foul with 10:31 left in and sat for the rest of the half, because apparently the coaching staff hasn’t learned their lesson. Today, it didn’t bite them. Missouri led by 8 when Brown left the game and now leads by 10. So far this season, Missouri hasn’t been able to beat a high-major opponent without Brown going nuclear, so the fact that the team is winning by double digits with just two points in seven minutes from him is cause for optimism.
* The reason Missouri was able to survive Brown’s absence is that nearly all of the supporting cast has chipped in. A bench that scored two points in like 60 minutes at Arkansas already has eight today, six of those from Ronnie DeGray, who has had a nice game. Javon Pickett has been his usual crafty self and DaJuan Gordon has hit a couple threes. If Missouri can just get something from those guys, it's a positive.
