Oof. It’s time to start really worrying about Missouri’s slow starts. The Tigers even switched up the starting lineup tonight, swapping Javon Pickett for Xavier Pinson, but still came out of the gate looking inept on the offensive end. They started 1-13 from the field and 0-9 from three. While not all of the threes were bad looks — Mark Smith missed a couple open ones, which you live with — perhaps an undersized, mid-major opponent is giving you outside shots for a reason. Mizzou had success when it went inside, like when Kobe Brown posted up and scored, but refused to do so. Jeremiah Tilmon didn't attempt a field goal in the half (more on him momentarily).
Luckily, it probably won't come back to bite the Tigers tonight. Charleston Southern is vastly out-manned. They rank No. 313 out of 355 teams in KenPom. No. 323 in offensive efficiency and No. 352 in three-point shooting. If they weren't shooting 2-11 from three, Mizzou would be in trouble.
Back to Tilmon. It's the same old story. I didn't really see his second foul, but I'm told it wasn't a great call. Maybe so. But both of his fouls came when he wasn't playing defense. It's one thing to get whistled when you're preventing an open look at the rim or something, but Mizzou can't afford to have him picking up fouls setting screens and rebounding. Yet it's hard to expect anything different at this point. Also, he needs to demand the ball on offense, and Mizzou needs to do a better job of getting it to him.
I suppose if there is a bright spot of the first half it's the big men behind Tilmon. Mitchell Smith leads all scorers with 10 points in just seven minutes. He might actually be Mizzou's best three-point shooter not named Mark Smith. Reed Nikko gave some good minutes as well, scoring back-to-back buckets to give Mizzou its first lead and showing some impressive dexterity on a steal and run-out. Bottom line: I think Mizzou should be fine tonight. But we've already seen that the Tigers aren't good enough to overcome starts like this or no-shows from Tilmon against good competition. To have those things continue after a six-day layoff is a definite red flag for me.
Luckily, it probably won't come back to bite the Tigers tonight. Charleston Southern is vastly out-manned. They rank No. 313 out of 355 teams in KenPom. No. 323 in offensive efficiency and No. 352 in three-point shooting. If they weren't shooting 2-11 from three, Mizzou would be in trouble.
Back to Tilmon. It's the same old story. I didn't really see his second foul, but I'm told it wasn't a great call. Maybe so. But both of his fouls came when he wasn't playing defense. It's one thing to get whistled when you're preventing an open look at the rim or something, but Mizzou can't afford to have him picking up fouls setting screens and rebounding. Yet it's hard to expect anything different at this point. Also, he needs to demand the ball on offense, and Mizzou needs to do a better job of getting it to him.
I suppose if there is a bright spot of the first half it's the big men behind Tilmon. Mitchell Smith leads all scorers with 10 points in just seven minutes. He might actually be Mizzou's best three-point shooter not named Mark Smith. Reed Nikko gave some good minutes as well, scoring back-to-back buckets to give Mizzou its first lead and showing some impressive dexterity on a steal and run-out. Bottom line: I think Mizzou should be fine tonight. But we've already seen that the Tigers aren't good enough to overcome starts like this or no-shows from Tilmon against good competition. To have those things continue after a six-day layoff is a definite red flag for me.
