-Mizzou closed out the first half on a 15-6 run in the final 5:25. They matched PItt to start the second half, 9-9, in the first 5:40. So +9 in the middle 10? That's gotta be the best mark of the season, right? (I'll check it to make sure later, that might be my stat that stood out)
-PItt had that little 7-0 run early on, but Mizzou did a good job of settling in on defense to spark a run of their own. They stopped fouling for a while, they forced some really tough looks and they kept getting after it on the glass. Most of the time last year, those types of runs would've been sparked on offense. At the under-4 timeout, Pitt had only made 2 of its last 15 field goals. Even though they were getting to the free throw line, that's huge.
-I can't get over how well the team as a whole rebounded (a 36-33 edge). Like, it's legitimately got to be the best job they've done on the boards since Gates took over. Gates has continuously talked about it having to be "by committee" and they really bought into that tonight (Bates drawing an over-the-back call against Pitt's big man was a prime example of that). I don't expect Mizzou to be this good every night, but it bodes well that they're capable of this type of performance. It's still to early to take a victory lap re: Connor Vanover but he was really good tonight. (From Sean East on the postgame broadcast: "We challenged him. We didn't think he was showing what he could really do. We just had to pull it out of him.")
-Tonight was Nick Honor's worst game of the year. He looked a step slow and hacked away on defense. He'll have better shooting nights, but when the jumper didn't fall tonight, he didn't really bring a whole lot else to the table. You'd like to see him step up on defense when it isn't dropping. Instead, he had some really costly miscues late in the game. I think what's worse is that he played ahead of Tamar Bates, who was having a really good night. I don't think it was the right call to keep him on the court.
-Sean East, on the other hand, continues to look like the best player on the team. Going 3-4 from deep against a Pitt squad that doesn't allow a ton of 3-pointers was big-time. The Tigers seem to really hit a stride when he's got it going. They need him to keep showing that consistency.
-I said in my prediction, it was going to take Mizzou's best game this year to win this won. I didn't think it would happen, considering Pitt's defense and rebounding stats, and the fact that Mizzou was on the road, but they delivered it anyway. That was definitely their most complete game of the season. They need a few more like this one in the next couple of weeks.
-PItt had that little 7-0 run early on, but Mizzou did a good job of settling in on defense to spark a run of their own. They stopped fouling for a while, they forced some really tough looks and they kept getting after it on the glass. Most of the time last year, those types of runs would've been sparked on offense. At the under-4 timeout, Pitt had only made 2 of its last 15 field goals. Even though they were getting to the free throw line, that's huge.
-I can't get over how well the team as a whole rebounded (a 36-33 edge). Like, it's legitimately got to be the best job they've done on the boards since Gates took over. Gates has continuously talked about it having to be "by committee" and they really bought into that tonight (Bates drawing an over-the-back call against Pitt's big man was a prime example of that). I don't expect Mizzou to be this good every night, but it bodes well that they're capable of this type of performance. It's still to early to take a victory lap re: Connor Vanover but he was really good tonight. (From Sean East on the postgame broadcast: "We challenged him. We didn't think he was showing what he could really do. We just had to pull it out of him.")
-Tonight was Nick Honor's worst game of the year. He looked a step slow and hacked away on defense. He'll have better shooting nights, but when the jumper didn't fall tonight, he didn't really bring a whole lot else to the table. You'd like to see him step up on defense when it isn't dropping. Instead, he had some really costly miscues late in the game. I think what's worse is that he played ahead of Tamar Bates, who was having a really good night. I don't think it was the right call to keep him on the court.
-Sean East, on the other hand, continues to look like the best player on the team. Going 3-4 from deep against a Pitt squad that doesn't allow a ton of 3-pointers was big-time. The Tigers seem to really hit a stride when he's got it going. They need him to keep showing that consistency.
-I said in my prediction, it was going to take Mizzou's best game this year to win this won. I didn't think it would happen, considering Pitt's defense and rebounding stats, and the fact that Mizzou was on the road, but they delivered it anyway. That was definitely their most complete game of the season. They need a few more like this one in the next couple of weeks.
