1. Ok, so this is a different team than we saw on our last two game road swing. Yes, they lost. Yes, it was double digits. But this team brought the same type of game they had been playing the last 4 and put it on display in NWA. The loss counts all the same, but there's something to work with here. The same could not be said after trips to Columbia east and College station. So that's a thing.
2. Mizzou won the majority of statistical categories today, or at least kept it close. Except one. In modern basketball, it was the big one.
Rebounds: Miz 36 -- Ark 23 (+8 offensive)
Assists: 13-13
Steals: Miz 4 -- Ark 6
Turnovers: Miz 13 -- Ark 8
FT: Both 16-20
2 Pt: Miz 20-35 (60%; +14) -- Ark 13-28 (46%)
3 Pt: Miz 4-21 (19%) -- Ark 12-25 (48% +24)
With two fairly matched teams the first question to ask..."did you hit your three's?"
One team did, one team didn't. That's the entire difference in this one.
By my quick notes on Mizzou's 3 point looks
In offense + clean: 4-18 (started 3-5)
Out of offense + clean: 0-1
Out of offense + contested: 0-2
That's it. They shot 22% from range on open looks within the offense. They weren't from the wrong shooters either:
Pinson 6 (made 1)
Kobe 5 (made 2)
Watson 3 (made 1)
Dru 2
Pickett 1
Jackson 1
There's nothing about that breakdown that concerns you about what they're doing. The problem, of course, is making the shots.
3. The defense wasn't great. It hasn't been great for some time. The only way Arkansas wins this game the way it was played, is to hit 40% plus from 3. They hit 48%. I thought we did a poor job of running them off the line and helping off of shooters too much.
4. The difference in the game was the last 7-8 minutes of the first half. Mizzou led by 13. Their last 17 possessions?
EIGHT turnovers
4 made baskets (all 2's) plus one trip to the line on 13 shots
Hawgs were making some shots, but this wasn't a 10-0 run like vs Ole Miss. This was a slow bleed.
The positive I guess is only 2 to's in the second half. But the 8 in 8 minutes sunk them.
5. Mizzou continued to attack the paint. 44-63 of chances they got the rock in the lane. Again, doing so mostly by dribble drive. Only six were via the pass (worth noting we scored 8 points on those with 1 to). But we were weren't efficient enough on those opps to offset the poor shooting.
So...back under .500. Cannot finish +.500 in league. This may not be the best team we had to play, but it's probably the toughest game left. Unless you were clinging to hopes of miraculously securing an at-large, it's not a devastating loss. It does make getting to the NIT a bit more challenging and lowers your room for error in avoiding Wednesday at Nashville.
It just is what it is. A game Mizzou could have won if they hit good looks from deep. They didn't, they lost.
2. Mizzou won the majority of statistical categories today, or at least kept it close. Except one. In modern basketball, it was the big one.
Rebounds: Miz 36 -- Ark 23 (+8 offensive)
Assists: 13-13
Steals: Miz 4 -- Ark 6
Turnovers: Miz 13 -- Ark 8
FT: Both 16-20
2 Pt: Miz 20-35 (60%; +14) -- Ark 13-28 (46%)
3 Pt: Miz 4-21 (19%) -- Ark 12-25 (48% +24)
With two fairly matched teams the first question to ask..."did you hit your three's?"
One team did, one team didn't. That's the entire difference in this one.
By my quick notes on Mizzou's 3 point looks
In offense + clean: 4-18 (started 3-5)
Out of offense + clean: 0-1
Out of offense + contested: 0-2
That's it. They shot 22% from range on open looks within the offense. They weren't from the wrong shooters either:
Pinson 6 (made 1)
Kobe 5 (made 2)
Watson 3 (made 1)
Dru 2
Pickett 1
Jackson 1
There's nothing about that breakdown that concerns you about what they're doing. The problem, of course, is making the shots.
3. The defense wasn't great. It hasn't been great for some time. The only way Arkansas wins this game the way it was played, is to hit 40% plus from 3. They hit 48%. I thought we did a poor job of running them off the line and helping off of shooters too much.
4. The difference in the game was the last 7-8 minutes of the first half. Mizzou led by 13. Their last 17 possessions?
EIGHT turnovers
4 made baskets (all 2's) plus one trip to the line on 13 shots
Hawgs were making some shots, but this wasn't a 10-0 run like vs Ole Miss. This was a slow bleed.
The positive I guess is only 2 to's in the second half. But the 8 in 8 minutes sunk them.
5. Mizzou continued to attack the paint. 44-63 of chances they got the rock in the lane. Again, doing so mostly by dribble drive. Only six were via the pass (worth noting we scored 8 points on those with 1 to). But we were weren't efficient enough on those opps to offset the poor shooting.
So...back under .500. Cannot finish +.500 in league. This may not be the best team we had to play, but it's probably the toughest game left. Unless you were clinging to hopes of miraculously securing an at-large, it's not a devastating loss. It does make getting to the NIT a bit more challenging and lowers your room for error in avoiding Wednesday at Nashville.
It just is what it is. A game Mizzou could have won if they hit good looks from deep. They didn't, they lost.
