I kind of can't believe Missouri is winning, and winning by eight, and has been leading pretty much the whole first half. The team had its x-factor, Jeremiah Tilmon, go to the bench with two fouls after playing six minutes. He has no points and no rebounds. Its leading scorer, Mark Smith, also has two fouls and has three points on 1-4 shooting. Mizzou is also losing the turnover battle 9-6. Illinois is 12-18 from two-point range. The big key for Mizzou: free throws. The Tigers are doing that thing again where they don't miss from the line. They're 16-16. Illinois is 9-17. There's your difference in the first half. The excessive whistles are annoying, for sure, and make a good game hard to watch. And Missouri is certainly at risk of losing important players in the second half due to foul trouble. The Tigers have three players with two fouls apiece and one with three. But as a Missouri fan, I think you actually wouldn't mind seeing the tight whistles continue if this team is going to shoot free throws like this.
The other key for Missouri has been pushing the pace, even after made baskets by Illinois. Missouri officially has 16 fastbreak points, but I think you could make the case that they've scored more than that in transition. When Cuonzo Martin went ultra small there for a minute, putting Kobe Brown at center, the plan was clearly just to beat Illinois down the floor every time. Xavier Pinson and Javon Pickett made that happen. I actually credit Martin for leaving Pinson in the game. He's gotten torched by Andre Curbelo on the defensive end (that kid has looked really good but needs to make his free throws), but he's too important to take out of the game because of his scoring and passing on offense.
Nice half from Kobe Brown. He has nine points and did a decent job on Kofi Cockburn in a pinch. I feel like Missouri kind of dodged a bullet with Cockburn only having eight points at half. He got a lot of touches down low with favorable matchups. You certainly hope Tilmon doesn't pick up another quick foul and/or come out flat in the second half after spending so much time on the bench, because he's really the only one who can match Cockburn's physicality outside of Jordan Wilmore, but you'd rather not play the true freshman in this big a game. Also, if I'm Illinois, I'm telling Ayo Dosunmu to shoot more in the second half. He has 15 points on 6 shots. He's only missed once. We'll see if Mizzou can keep him under control in the second half.
The other key for Missouri has been pushing the pace, even after made baskets by Illinois. Missouri officially has 16 fastbreak points, but I think you could make the case that they've scored more than that in transition. When Cuonzo Martin went ultra small there for a minute, putting Kobe Brown at center, the plan was clearly just to beat Illinois down the floor every time. Xavier Pinson and Javon Pickett made that happen. I actually credit Martin for leaving Pinson in the game. He's gotten torched by Andre Curbelo on the defensive end (that kid has looked really good but needs to make his free throws), but he's too important to take out of the game because of his scoring and passing on offense.
Nice half from Kobe Brown. He has nine points and did a decent job on Kofi Cockburn in a pinch. I feel like Missouri kind of dodged a bullet with Cockburn only having eight points at half. He got a lot of touches down low with favorable matchups. You certainly hope Tilmon doesn't pick up another quick foul and/or come out flat in the second half after spending so much time on the bench, because he's really the only one who can match Cockburn's physicality outside of Jordan Wilmore, but you'd rather not play the true freshman in this big a game. Also, if I'm Illinois, I'm telling Ayo Dosunmu to shoot more in the second half. He has 15 points on 6 shots. He's only missed once. We'll see if Mizzou can keep him under control in the second half.
