-Let's start on defense. Princeton is going five-out with most of its lineups and spreading Mizzou's defense all the way out. The close-outs have been too strong, guys leaping to try to close the distance or unable to catch themselves in time to backpedal when their man drives in. The helps side defense hasn't been good when Kobe's out. Tosan Evbuomwan is really, really good - I'm not sure Mizzou has a guy who can effectively guard him (although, Mohamed Diarra looked OK for the two possessions he was on him).
-Princeton's also doing a good job of taking care of the ball so far and grinding the game down to a really slow pace. Mizzou's had a hard time building any momentum because of it.
-With that being said, the problem hasn't really been the defense. It's that Missouri's two leading scorers, both for the season and in Thursday's game against Utah State, haven't had a good shooting day. Princeton is sending everybody inside when Kobe gets in there and the team hasn't shot well enough from outside to make them pay for it. D'Moi hasn't gotten any clean looks, either. Just a really sluggish start for the team. Princeton being a really good defensive rebounding team hasn't helped matters.
-Noah Carter has really been the only guy who's gotten anything going. He's been able to back guys down in the post and is the only player on the team who's made multiple 3-pointers. They need him to keep cooking, but they need others to step up as well.
-Big Shot Nick strikes again. He hasn't been great but those two 3s he hit were really important. That Sean East floaters at the buzzer was huge, too -- potentially a season-saving shot.
-The good news: I don't think that Princeton could've played much better, I don't think Mizzou could've played much worse and MU is only down by 7. They were in a very similar situation going up against LSU. I think they feel a little bit better after that run at the end of the half
-Princeton's also doing a good job of taking care of the ball so far and grinding the game down to a really slow pace. Mizzou's had a hard time building any momentum because of it.
-With that being said, the problem hasn't really been the defense. It's that Missouri's two leading scorers, both for the season and in Thursday's game against Utah State, haven't had a good shooting day. Princeton is sending everybody inside when Kobe gets in there and the team hasn't shot well enough from outside to make them pay for it. D'Moi hasn't gotten any clean looks, either. Just a really sluggish start for the team. Princeton being a really good defensive rebounding team hasn't helped matters.
-Noah Carter has really been the only guy who's gotten anything going. He's been able to back guys down in the post and is the only player on the team who's made multiple 3-pointers. They need him to keep cooking, but they need others to step up as well.
-Big Shot Nick strikes again. He hasn't been great but those two 3s he hit were really important. That Sean East floaters at the buzzer was huge, too -- potentially a season-saving shot.
-The good news: I don't think that Princeton could've played much better, I don't think Mizzou could've played much worse and MU is only down by 7. They were in a very similar situation going up against LSU. I think they feel a little bit better after that run at the end of the half
