In case you didn't see it, Mizzou lost to South Carolina 85-75 to drop to 0-2 in SEC play. Barring some sort of miracle winning streak, I think we can go ahead and stop talking about the NCAA Tournament. I honestly don't know what it usually takes to make the NIT because I've never paid much attention to it, but that's probably the goal at this point.
The biggest takeaway from today is obvious: more foul trouble for Jeremiah Tilmon. As Gabe said after the Tennessee game, Missouri just isn't good enough to win games against SEC teams if it gets this little from him. Tilmon fouled out in 13 mintues today after recording four points and no rebounds. The past three games, he's played 12, 9 and 13 minutes, respectively. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about his foul trouble lately has been that so many fouls have come at predictable moments. His third and fourth fouls today reminded me a lot of his first foul against Tennessee. The refs had just called Chris Silva for a foul because the two of them were wrestling down low, then Tilmon went right back to shoving Silva, and he got called for it. I saw it coming a mile away. I know there's been some frustration expressed with the officials for "targeting" Tilmon, but those two fouls were squarely on him. (I also think Cuonzo Martin should have pulled Tilmon immediately after that third foul.) After the Xavier and Illinois games, it seemed like Tilmon might be turning a corner, but clearly that's not the case. I think these type of games are just going to be part of what comes with Tilmon throughout his career, and this year's team isn't talented enough to overcome them.
Of course, the reason this team depends on Tilmon to stay in the game is its total lack of depth in the post behind him. Reed Nikko played about as well as he could today. Kevin Puryear made a few decent plays on the offensive end but also struggled for long stretches. K.J. Santos got exposed defensively. Mitchell Smith is now an afterthought (he played three minutes today). That group is not talented enough to compete with the likes of Chris Silva. South Carolina outscored Mizzou 30 to 24 in the paint. They had seven blocks compared to zero for Mizzou. And they shot 35 free throws.
Speaking of free throws, South Carolina scored 85 points. We've said this many times this season, but Mizzou is not the type of team that can win a game in the 80's, especially without Tilmon. While there were a few defensive miscues, the bigger issue is that the Tigers gave away so many easy points with turnovers and fouls. Mizzou turned the ball over 20 times. It's now 1-5 on the year when it turns the ball over more times than its opponent. South Carolina scored 33 points off those turnovers. The Gamecocks also scored 29 points at the free throw line. Fouling has been an issue all year for Mizzou; the Tigers have fouled on 27.9 percent of opponent possessions this year, which ranks No. 303 nationally. This team is not good enough offensively to give away that many easy points.
Today's game wasn't all bad. Javon Pickett played great, scoring a career-high 21 points. Jordan Geist and Mark Smith both made some big shots. Torrence Watson had a great stretch in the first half (although his second half left a bit to be desired). Mizzou showed some fight in closing the gap to three points on multiple occasions in the second half. But, as usual, this team can't get so little from Tilmon and turn the ball over so many times and expect to beat a decent opponent. Up next is Alabama at home on Wednesday.
The biggest takeaway from today is obvious: more foul trouble for Jeremiah Tilmon. As Gabe said after the Tennessee game, Missouri just isn't good enough to win games against SEC teams if it gets this little from him. Tilmon fouled out in 13 mintues today after recording four points and no rebounds. The past three games, he's played 12, 9 and 13 minutes, respectively. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about his foul trouble lately has been that so many fouls have come at predictable moments. His third and fourth fouls today reminded me a lot of his first foul against Tennessee. The refs had just called Chris Silva for a foul because the two of them were wrestling down low, then Tilmon went right back to shoving Silva, and he got called for it. I saw it coming a mile away. I know there's been some frustration expressed with the officials for "targeting" Tilmon, but those two fouls were squarely on him. (I also think Cuonzo Martin should have pulled Tilmon immediately after that third foul.) After the Xavier and Illinois games, it seemed like Tilmon might be turning a corner, but clearly that's not the case. I think these type of games are just going to be part of what comes with Tilmon throughout his career, and this year's team isn't talented enough to overcome them.
Of course, the reason this team depends on Tilmon to stay in the game is its total lack of depth in the post behind him. Reed Nikko played about as well as he could today. Kevin Puryear made a few decent plays on the offensive end but also struggled for long stretches. K.J. Santos got exposed defensively. Mitchell Smith is now an afterthought (he played three minutes today). That group is not talented enough to compete with the likes of Chris Silva. South Carolina outscored Mizzou 30 to 24 in the paint. They had seven blocks compared to zero for Mizzou. And they shot 35 free throws.
Speaking of free throws, South Carolina scored 85 points. We've said this many times this season, but Mizzou is not the type of team that can win a game in the 80's, especially without Tilmon. While there were a few defensive miscues, the bigger issue is that the Tigers gave away so many easy points with turnovers and fouls. Mizzou turned the ball over 20 times. It's now 1-5 on the year when it turns the ball over more times than its opponent. South Carolina scored 33 points off those turnovers. The Gamecocks also scored 29 points at the free throw line. Fouling has been an issue all year for Mizzou; the Tigers have fouled on 27.9 percent of opponent possessions this year, which ranks No. 303 nationally. This team is not good enough offensively to give away that many easy points.
Today's game wasn't all bad. Javon Pickett played great, scoring a career-high 21 points. Jordan Geist and Mark Smith both made some big shots. Torrence Watson had a great stretch in the first half (although his second half left a bit to be desired). Mizzou showed some fight in closing the gap to three points on multiple occasions in the second half. But, as usual, this team can't get so little from Tilmon and turn the ball over so many times and expect to beat a decent opponent. Up next is Alabama at home on Wednesday.
