1. There are two distinct ways to look at a game like tonight. Neither is necessarily right, or wrong, but they're definitely different. First, some will look at the game and say Mizzou played poorly for the better part of a half, trailed by 11 early on, looked disjointed and did it all against a team named Liberty. Liberty?!?! Second, some will look at this game as one Mizzou trailed by 11, outscored the opposition by 20 over the last 25 minutes and cleaned up their play and won the game with relative ease. I lean towards the latter, and I'll tell you why...
2. Liberty is not a bad team!!!! They lost 4 seniors from a 2020 team that won the ASUN and was poised for a solid seed (likely 12-13) in last year's NCAA tournament. They ranked 79th in Pomeroy. In 2019, they finished 58th in Pomeroy (losing only 1 senior from 19 to 20), Won the ASUN, grabbed a 12 seed, knocked off a very good Mississippi State team before losing to Va Tech. This year was thought to be a bit of a rebuilding year, but guess what, their guys coming back are pretty darn good too...Consider their results against P5 teams this year:
Purdue (L) 77-64
Miss St (W) 84-73
So Carolina (W) 78-62
TCU (L) 56-52
Mizzou (L) 69-60
This is not a bad team. Not great, but not bad. Pomeroy is a little down on them likely due to their lost production that is still affecting his rankings (118th currently). But don't think this is the last you've heard of them. They're likely not going to have the games to earn an at-large or anything, but they're the class of their league this year.
3. If there was a "trap" game on Mizzou's schedule (delight for a moment that this is a thing), this is probably the trappiest trap game that ever trapped. Mizzou had really nice wins over Oregon and Wichita away from Mizzou Arena last week. Word has it that saturday there's a pretty big game in Columbia that these guys like to look forward to. Checks both the "let down" and "look ahead" boxes. And Liberty is the type of team that can make you pay. What Liberty's style of play loses in aesthetics, it makes up for in efficiency. I like referencing my high school coach for many reasons, the most of which he actually gave pretty deep thoughts in a shallow way. Liberty plays a style of ball that would lead him to say..."you guys had your patience tested and you all came back negative." That's it, in a nutshell.
Liberty's offense is a throwback to the old Princeton offense with high post touches, cuts off the ball, dribble drives, cuts off the ball. And they add in the wildly effective 3 point shooting component. This leads them to have the 29th best eFG% in the nation this year. And they keep running it until they get their shot and don't turn the ball over. Over and over again. Impatient defenses that gamble and lose gap integrity get burned.
Liberty's defense borrows concepts from Tony Bennett (not the guy who lost something in San Fran, but who won something in Charlottesville). It's modeled off of the pack line defense, though not a full implementation (or as effective). Funnel dribblers into help defense. Don't get beat to the rim. Make teams execute and run their sets. Dare them to beat your consistently from outside. Impatient teams (and players) will take those quick shots and contested drives.
Put those things together, and this was a game that had all sorts of bad signs stamped on it.
Take from it what you will, but the result is positive when viewed in light of the entire schedule. Looked at in isolation, it wasn't something that's going to get you excited for more. Take note, Liberty does that to most teams.
4. Let's take a look at the numbers
Possessions: 62 (Tigers now have wins at 75, 71, 68 and 62 possession games; versatile)
3 PT
Mizzou: 5-16 (31%)
Liberty: 7-25 (28%)
2 PT
Mizzou: 20-33 (61%)
Liberty: 11-25 (44%)
FT
Mizzou: 14-21 (67%)
Liberty: 17-22 (77%) (c'mon zebras, seriously? Watch the game)
OReb %
Mizzou: 37% (excellent)
Liberty: 17% (also excellent, but Liberty wasn't trying)
Assists
Mizzou: 12
Liberty: 10
TO
Mizzou: 14
Liberty: 7
5. Our old friend Mr. TO reared his ugly head in this one. Mizzou's TO rate of 22.6% is not good. That said, their first half TO% of 31.2 is absolutely heinous. Their second half rate of 12.9% is pretty good. So, at least an adjustment was made to that effect. And for as much as we love X, for the reasons mentioned above, this wasn't his ideal matchup. Patience isn't what I would say is his biggest strength. That's reflected in his 6 TO's tonight. He'll have better nights. Hopefully this week.
6. Mark once again takes home the MVP. He wasn't fantastic, but he made some big plays tonight. The three before half to snap the 0-8 team streak from deep. 12 of his points came in the second stanza including the dagger off the offensive rebound and the subsequent charge. If Tilmon hadn't regressed at the line, he would've been a strong competitor with 8 points, 9 boards, 2 assists and only one TO and 2 PF. Unfortunately that 2-6(7) left a mark. Dru did his thing with 14 points, 2 boards, 2 blocks and an assist (and a ridiculous charge call). X made some big plays but you simply can't have a game with 6 to's when there's 62 possessions and no press. Can't do it. He knows. Coach knows. That will be discussed.
As an aside, I was rooting for Buggs to crack the scoreboard on his Mizzou career. Alas, 0-2 at the line late that some people were affected by (line was -9.5; o/u was 131). Regardless, to borrow a e-friend's standard, he passes the "eye test" in terms of giving this team an added dimension when X has an off game, dru is in foul trouble (both happened tonight). He logged 24 minutes with 1 TO and 5 assists. Quiet production. Unsung hero type. This is a game Mizzou may not have won without that steady hand.
7. Take heart, adjustments were made in this one. After going 5-8 on rim shots in the first stanza, Mizzou went 11-17 after the break (with a few that should've been made and one miss leading to Mark's big 3). Also credit to the defense who held a team shooting 56.4% eFG on the year to a very pedestrian 43.0% figure tonight. You're never TOO worried about Martin having a good defensive game plan, but it was massively important tonight.
8. Enough jabbering about numbers, Mizzou's next game is against Illinois. You know they're good. You hope Mizzou is good. It rarely matters in this one traditionally. All bets off. Unfortunately, Bragging Rights has been neutered and sent to an empty arena. A true shame as it's one of my favorite sport events. Hadn't missed one personally in a long while, dating back to the Snyder administration. Ups and downs. Each game has it all. Hopefully the team gives us a performance that makes us forget about that for awhile. Couple that with the rescheduled UGA game. Alert your S/O that you'll be unavailable for a solid 8 hours saturday.
2. Liberty is not a bad team!!!! They lost 4 seniors from a 2020 team that won the ASUN and was poised for a solid seed (likely 12-13) in last year's NCAA tournament. They ranked 79th in Pomeroy. In 2019, they finished 58th in Pomeroy (losing only 1 senior from 19 to 20), Won the ASUN, grabbed a 12 seed, knocked off a very good Mississippi State team before losing to Va Tech. This year was thought to be a bit of a rebuilding year, but guess what, their guys coming back are pretty darn good too...Consider their results against P5 teams this year:
Purdue (L) 77-64
Miss St (W) 84-73
So Carolina (W) 78-62
TCU (L) 56-52
Mizzou (L) 69-60
This is not a bad team. Not great, but not bad. Pomeroy is a little down on them likely due to their lost production that is still affecting his rankings (118th currently). But don't think this is the last you've heard of them. They're likely not going to have the games to earn an at-large or anything, but they're the class of their league this year.
3. If there was a "trap" game on Mizzou's schedule (delight for a moment that this is a thing), this is probably the trappiest trap game that ever trapped. Mizzou had really nice wins over Oregon and Wichita away from Mizzou Arena last week. Word has it that saturday there's a pretty big game in Columbia that these guys like to look forward to. Checks both the "let down" and "look ahead" boxes. And Liberty is the type of team that can make you pay. What Liberty's style of play loses in aesthetics, it makes up for in efficiency. I like referencing my high school coach for many reasons, the most of which he actually gave pretty deep thoughts in a shallow way. Liberty plays a style of ball that would lead him to say..."you guys had your patience tested and you all came back negative." That's it, in a nutshell.
Liberty's offense is a throwback to the old Princeton offense with high post touches, cuts off the ball, dribble drives, cuts off the ball. And they add in the wildly effective 3 point shooting component. This leads them to have the 29th best eFG% in the nation this year. And they keep running it until they get their shot and don't turn the ball over. Over and over again. Impatient defenses that gamble and lose gap integrity get burned.
Liberty's defense borrows concepts from Tony Bennett (not the guy who lost something in San Fran, but who won something in Charlottesville). It's modeled off of the pack line defense, though not a full implementation (or as effective). Funnel dribblers into help defense. Don't get beat to the rim. Make teams execute and run their sets. Dare them to beat your consistently from outside. Impatient teams (and players) will take those quick shots and contested drives.
Put those things together, and this was a game that had all sorts of bad signs stamped on it.
Take from it what you will, but the result is positive when viewed in light of the entire schedule. Looked at in isolation, it wasn't something that's going to get you excited for more. Take note, Liberty does that to most teams.
4. Let's take a look at the numbers
Possessions: 62 (Tigers now have wins at 75, 71, 68 and 62 possession games; versatile)
3 PT
Mizzou: 5-16 (31%)
Liberty: 7-25 (28%)
2 PT
Mizzou: 20-33 (61%)
Liberty: 11-25 (44%)
FT
Mizzou: 14-21 (67%)
Liberty: 17-22 (77%) (c'mon zebras, seriously? Watch the game)
OReb %
Mizzou: 37% (excellent)
Liberty: 17% (also excellent, but Liberty wasn't trying)
Assists
Mizzou: 12
Liberty: 10
TO
Mizzou: 14
Liberty: 7
5. Our old friend Mr. TO reared his ugly head in this one. Mizzou's TO rate of 22.6% is not good. That said, their first half TO% of 31.2 is absolutely heinous. Their second half rate of 12.9% is pretty good. So, at least an adjustment was made to that effect. And for as much as we love X, for the reasons mentioned above, this wasn't his ideal matchup. Patience isn't what I would say is his biggest strength. That's reflected in his 6 TO's tonight. He'll have better nights. Hopefully this week.
6. Mark once again takes home the MVP. He wasn't fantastic, but he made some big plays tonight. The three before half to snap the 0-8 team streak from deep. 12 of his points came in the second stanza including the dagger off the offensive rebound and the subsequent charge. If Tilmon hadn't regressed at the line, he would've been a strong competitor with 8 points, 9 boards, 2 assists and only one TO and 2 PF. Unfortunately that 2-6(7) left a mark. Dru did his thing with 14 points, 2 boards, 2 blocks and an assist (and a ridiculous charge call). X made some big plays but you simply can't have a game with 6 to's when there's 62 possessions and no press. Can't do it. He knows. Coach knows. That will be discussed.
As an aside, I was rooting for Buggs to crack the scoreboard on his Mizzou career. Alas, 0-2 at the line late that some people were affected by (line was -9.5; o/u was 131). Regardless, to borrow a e-friend's standard, he passes the "eye test" in terms of giving this team an added dimension when X has an off game, dru is in foul trouble (both happened tonight). He logged 24 minutes with 1 TO and 5 assists. Quiet production. Unsung hero type. This is a game Mizzou may not have won without that steady hand.
7. Take heart, adjustments were made in this one. After going 5-8 on rim shots in the first stanza, Mizzou went 11-17 after the break (with a few that should've been made and one miss leading to Mark's big 3). Also credit to the defense who held a team shooting 56.4% eFG on the year to a very pedestrian 43.0% figure tonight. You're never TOO worried about Martin having a good defensive game plan, but it was massively important tonight.
8. Enough jabbering about numbers, Mizzou's next game is against Illinois. You know they're good. You hope Mizzou is good. It rarely matters in this one traditionally. All bets off. Unfortunately, Bragging Rights has been neutered and sent to an empty arena. A true shame as it's one of my favorite sport events. Hadn't missed one personally in a long while, dating back to the Snyder administration. Ups and downs. Each game has it all. Hopefully the team gives us a performance that makes us forget about that for awhile. Couple that with the rescheduled UGA game. Alert your S/O that you'll be unavailable for a solid 8 hours saturday.
