*Give Alabama credit. It looked like they were buried. Mizzou answered every punch for about 34 minutes. But Bama finished the game on an 18-3 run and won by 10. They could have panicked and they didn't.
*Two things beat Missouri on this day. Let me talk with the more basketball related one: The Tigers got murdered on the offensive glass. The Crimson Tide had 23 offensive boards that led to 24 points. Missouri had held Bama off all day, answering every charge, but when it was 73-73, a tip in by James Rojas gave Bama the lead. Then at 77-73, Alabama got four shots on a possession and finally made one to go up six. Missouri is usually a pretty good rebounding team. It got dominated today in that regard.
*The officiating was...curious? The final free throw disparity was 29-5 and only six of those came when Missouri was trying to foul. The Tigers never even got in the bonus in the second half. In a 75-73 game Amari Davis was called for a charge that I didn't think was a charge live, but I couldn't tell because they never replayed it because Joe Kleine was too busy plugging the Slater, MO VFW chili cookoff and the other dude was too consumed lobbying for Auburn to be No. 1 to show me a replay or talk about the game (I'm not usually a big anti-announcer guy, but the SEC has made a huge commitment to basketball overall, but the product on the conference network is largely lacking). I thought Bama's guards were very physical. I don't know if they were physical enough for the lack of whistles to change the outcome of the game, but I at least thought Missouri should have gotten the chance to go to the line more than three times in the final 20 minutes.
*That's not to say there's nothing Missouri could have done. Down 75-73, I'm not sure the shot you want is a Ronnie DeGray corner three. I know he was open and he made two today and maybe it's nitpicking, but I'm just not sure that's the guy I want taking that shot on the biggest possession of the game.
*The lack of a point guard was glaring. I saw multiple possessions where Mizzou just had the ball taken away from it out near midcourt. It seemed like Missouri was spending so much energy getting the ball across halfcourt in the final five minutes they didn't have much juice left for anything else.
*Not sure what Trevon Brazile needs to do to get more minutes at crunch time. He drilled a three to make it 79-76 and break a four minute scoring drought and give the Tigers a chance. It was the only bucket Mizzou made in the final six minutes.
*It looks like the secret is out that you have to stop Kobe Brown when you play Mizzou. Of the seven players who played more than three minutes today, Brown was the worst. He scored six points on 3-13 shooting. For most of the day his teammates were good enough to deliver what looked like it was going to be a win. But in the end, they needed a little more from their best player.
*Against Alabama this season, Mizzou is 20/48 from three-point range (41.7%). Against everyone else, the Tigers are 75/302 (25%). Bama isn't an elite defensive team, but they aren't usually terrible. Missouri has picked them apart this season and made shots.
*Give Missouri credit on the season as a whole. This team is improving. Most of us quit on them some time between the UMKC loss and the Arkansas blowout. They haven't quit. They're getting better. They beat Bama once and nearly twice, they blew out Ole Miss and very well could have beaten Texas A&M. This is a better team than it was a couple months ago. Maybe it's the reverse of last year. Last year, Mizzou had an edge early in the season because it had so many guys that had played together, then the rest of the conference caught up. This year, Mizzou had no one who has played together. Maybe they're better than they looked in the first 15 games. Is it better enough? I don't know. At the end of the year, nobody's going to care about the losses that were almost wins. They're just going to know they were losses.
*Auburn comes to town on Tuesday night fresh off a win over Kentucky and likely bringing the nation's No. 1 ranking with it. On full display will be what it takes to build a basketball program from scratch. Not long ago, Auburn and Mizzou were fighting it out on the first night of the SEC Tournament. Now, the other Tigers are one of the top teams in the land. Mizzou fans will get to see it up close on Tuesday night. And I'll say again, if you're serious about this sport, following the path Auburn followed to get where it is ain't a terrible idea. Take that as you'd like.
*Two things beat Missouri on this day. Let me talk with the more basketball related one: The Tigers got murdered on the offensive glass. The Crimson Tide had 23 offensive boards that led to 24 points. Missouri had held Bama off all day, answering every charge, but when it was 73-73, a tip in by James Rojas gave Bama the lead. Then at 77-73, Alabama got four shots on a possession and finally made one to go up six. Missouri is usually a pretty good rebounding team. It got dominated today in that regard.
*The officiating was...curious? The final free throw disparity was 29-5 and only six of those came when Missouri was trying to foul. The Tigers never even got in the bonus in the second half. In a 75-73 game Amari Davis was called for a charge that I didn't think was a charge live, but I couldn't tell because they never replayed it because Joe Kleine was too busy plugging the Slater, MO VFW chili cookoff and the other dude was too consumed lobbying for Auburn to be No. 1 to show me a replay or talk about the game (I'm not usually a big anti-announcer guy, but the SEC has made a huge commitment to basketball overall, but the product on the conference network is largely lacking). I thought Bama's guards were very physical. I don't know if they were physical enough for the lack of whistles to change the outcome of the game, but I at least thought Missouri should have gotten the chance to go to the line more than three times in the final 20 minutes.
*That's not to say there's nothing Missouri could have done. Down 75-73, I'm not sure the shot you want is a Ronnie DeGray corner three. I know he was open and he made two today and maybe it's nitpicking, but I'm just not sure that's the guy I want taking that shot on the biggest possession of the game.
*The lack of a point guard was glaring. I saw multiple possessions where Mizzou just had the ball taken away from it out near midcourt. It seemed like Missouri was spending so much energy getting the ball across halfcourt in the final five minutes they didn't have much juice left for anything else.
*Not sure what Trevon Brazile needs to do to get more minutes at crunch time. He drilled a three to make it 79-76 and break a four minute scoring drought and give the Tigers a chance. It was the only bucket Mizzou made in the final six minutes.
*It looks like the secret is out that you have to stop Kobe Brown when you play Mizzou. Of the seven players who played more than three minutes today, Brown was the worst. He scored six points on 3-13 shooting. For most of the day his teammates were good enough to deliver what looked like it was going to be a win. But in the end, they needed a little more from their best player.
*Against Alabama this season, Mizzou is 20/48 from three-point range (41.7%). Against everyone else, the Tigers are 75/302 (25%). Bama isn't an elite defensive team, but they aren't usually terrible. Missouri has picked them apart this season and made shots.
*Give Missouri credit on the season as a whole. This team is improving. Most of us quit on them some time between the UMKC loss and the Arkansas blowout. They haven't quit. They're getting better. They beat Bama once and nearly twice, they blew out Ole Miss and very well could have beaten Texas A&M. This is a better team than it was a couple months ago. Maybe it's the reverse of last year. Last year, Mizzou had an edge early in the season because it had so many guys that had played together, then the rest of the conference caught up. This year, Mizzou had no one who has played together. Maybe they're better than they looked in the first 15 games. Is it better enough? I don't know. At the end of the year, nobody's going to care about the losses that were almost wins. They're just going to know they were losses.
*Auburn comes to town on Tuesday night fresh off a win over Kentucky and likely bringing the nation's No. 1 ranking with it. On full display will be what it takes to build a basketball program from scratch. Not long ago, Auburn and Mizzou were fighting it out on the first night of the SEC Tournament. Now, the other Tigers are one of the top teams in the land. Mizzou fans will get to see it up close on Tuesday night. And I'll say again, if you're serious about this sport, following the path Auburn followed to get where it is ain't a terrible idea. Take that as you'd like.
