Overall, you feel a lot better coming out of this one than you did coming out of the Ole Miss game. I want to say first of all that Mizzou deserves a lot of credit for nearly pulling that off. No Jeremiah Tilmon, Mitchell Smith fouls out, Kobe Brown doesn’t play the last 12 minutes or so. And they still take it to the final five seconds with a chance to win. No, there are no moral victories and nobody’s going to care, but Missouri does deserve some credit for it in my opinion. Torrence Watson and Parker Braun proved they an be on the court and help you in big games. Xavier Pinson responded after being challenged. Dru Smith continued his solid consistent effort with a 10th straight game in double figures. There was a lot more to like today than there was Wednesday even if the outcome fell short of what you hoped.
How do you replace Jeremiah Tilmon? With a group effort. With Mitchell Smith making two threes, with Torrence Watson making three, with Dru Buggs making three field goals for the first time this season, including his first three. Credit to the lesser used and lesser scoring Tigers making an impact today with the big man out.
You also replace him by hitting a season high 13 threes. Cuonzo said it didn't really change the game plan, but I think it had to.
For a guy who was going to make a major difference, I didn’t even notice Justin Smith in the first half. Made his presence felt after that, though. Seventeen of his 19 came after halftime. Little bit of a difference maker from the first time these two teams played.
Seemed like the lead should have been much bigger at half. Arkansas shot 34% and looked lost without Moses Moody on the floor…but Mizzou turned it over 11 times. And then the slow starts to second half continue. Arkansas scored first 6 points to take lead for first time in 20 minutes. Razorbacks scored on their first four possessions of half. Mizzou would trail by as much as six after Arkansas went 29-19 to start the half. First ten minutes of the second half have burned the Tigers a few times. They did manage to recover more here than frequently in the past, which is good, but it’s a trend worth watching.
I don’t know what you do with Mark Smith. You can give more of his minutes to Torrence Watson, but the staff hasn't yet trusted Watson as a 25-30 minute guy. I think Watson clearly earned more minutes today. The question is how many more. For all the complains, Smith took a huge charge and got some offensive rebounds and got to the line. But his shot is broken. And if he can’t make a shot, I don’t know what you do with him. I didn’t realize until after looking at the box score that Javon Pickett played only eight minutes. Maybe someone knows the reason for that. I don’t. Drew Buggs, despite by far his best offensive game, played only 15. So while all of us may think that most of Mark Smith’s minutes need to go somewhere else, it doesn’t really seem like the coach agrees.
Missouri is now 5-1 in games decided by five points or less. Winning is a skill, but also, at some point, it seemed bound to catch up with them. It did here. Law of averages says you aren’t winning every game that goes down to the wire. The law of averages caught up.
This loss is hardly devastating, but I think it does make it tough for the Tigers to get a top four seed. They started today as the last 4 seed. Their next four games aren’t really going to do much for their seeding even if they win them. South Carolina, A&M and Georgia are terrible and Ole Miss isn’t a quad one win when you play the Rebels at home. The last game against Florida in Gainesville is helpful. But Missouri might have to go 5-0 the rest of the way to get a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament. Heck, they might have to do it to get a top four seed in the SEC Tournament. I think realistically we’re looking at a team that’s a 5 or 6 seed in the big tournament.
Tuesday in Athens is a must win. Georgia isn’t good. It’s a game you have to win. Drop that one and we’re having a whole different conversation Tuesday night. Cuonzo was asked after the game if Tilmon would be back for that one. He said he didn’t know. Regardless of the answer to that question, Missouri has to beat the Bulldogs.
How do you replace Jeremiah Tilmon? With a group effort. With Mitchell Smith making two threes, with Torrence Watson making three, with Dru Buggs making three field goals for the first time this season, including his first three. Credit to the lesser used and lesser scoring Tigers making an impact today with the big man out.
You also replace him by hitting a season high 13 threes. Cuonzo said it didn't really change the game plan, but I think it had to.
For a guy who was going to make a major difference, I didn’t even notice Justin Smith in the first half. Made his presence felt after that, though. Seventeen of his 19 came after halftime. Little bit of a difference maker from the first time these two teams played.
Seemed like the lead should have been much bigger at half. Arkansas shot 34% and looked lost without Moses Moody on the floor…but Mizzou turned it over 11 times. And then the slow starts to second half continue. Arkansas scored first 6 points to take lead for first time in 20 minutes. Razorbacks scored on their first four possessions of half. Mizzou would trail by as much as six after Arkansas went 29-19 to start the half. First ten minutes of the second half have burned the Tigers a few times. They did manage to recover more here than frequently in the past, which is good, but it’s a trend worth watching.
I don’t know what you do with Mark Smith. You can give more of his minutes to Torrence Watson, but the staff hasn't yet trusted Watson as a 25-30 minute guy. I think Watson clearly earned more minutes today. The question is how many more. For all the complains, Smith took a huge charge and got some offensive rebounds and got to the line. But his shot is broken. And if he can’t make a shot, I don’t know what you do with him. I didn’t realize until after looking at the box score that Javon Pickett played only eight minutes. Maybe someone knows the reason for that. I don’t. Drew Buggs, despite by far his best offensive game, played only 15. So while all of us may think that most of Mark Smith’s minutes need to go somewhere else, it doesn’t really seem like the coach agrees.
Missouri is now 5-1 in games decided by five points or less. Winning is a skill, but also, at some point, it seemed bound to catch up with them. It did here. Law of averages says you aren’t winning every game that goes down to the wire. The law of averages caught up.
This loss is hardly devastating, but I think it does make it tough for the Tigers to get a top four seed. They started today as the last 4 seed. Their next four games aren’t really going to do much for their seeding even if they win them. South Carolina, A&M and Georgia are terrible and Ole Miss isn’t a quad one win when you play the Rebels at home. The last game against Florida in Gainesville is helpful. But Missouri might have to go 5-0 the rest of the way to get a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament. Heck, they might have to do it to get a top four seed in the SEC Tournament. I think realistically we’re looking at a team that’s a 5 or 6 seed in the big tournament.
Tuesday in Athens is a must win. Georgia isn’t good. It’s a game you have to win. Drop that one and we’re having a whole different conversation Tuesday night. Cuonzo was asked after the game if Tilmon would be back for that one. He said he didn’t know. Regardless of the answer to that question, Missouri has to beat the Bulldogs.
