At what point were your nerves settled in watching this game?
I think most fans go into a potentially tricky road game like this one with a bit of nerves for how the Tigers might play. But Mizzou opened the game with a simple 9-0 run, had a short 6-0 run shortly after, and then another 8-0 run all within the first 10 minutes of the game. That’s 23 unanswered points in 10 minutes of game action.
Mississippi State had scored 8 points. Missouri had scored 28 points.
Once the lead was 20, the two teams
exchanged a few more baskets, but an Anthony Robinson traditional three point play set the lead to 21 points, and the Tigers never led by fewer than 21 the rest of the day. The final margin of 24 was only made possible by a 10-0 MSU run when the lead had stretched to 34 in the second half. So really, at no point for forty minutes of basketball were the Tigers threatened by Mississippi State.
So I don’t know when you exhaled but hopefully it didn’t take long to understand Missouri was not intimidated by the 2,000 or so fans who were mildly settled into their seats, and they were going to handle their business against the sinking Bulldogs.
The Tigers finished the month of February strong, and the statistics only improved for State once the outcome of the game was decided. At that point the Tigers coasted to the final margin. In some ways this was a more methodical game than what State dealt with mid-week when they lost to Alabama by 25. Both games saw State watch their opponent expand to a 30 point lead at halftime, it’s just Missouri didn’t make 16 three pointers. Mizzou only made three first half threes, and instead punished State at the rim, and in the paint.
They were also excellent defensively, forcing the ball out of Josh Hubbard’s hands and making the other State players beat them. Hubbard only attempted 6 shots, and MSU scored just 0.657 points per possession in the first half. Meanwhile Mizzou scored 1.588 ppp in the first half. That’s a way to go on the road win a game.
MSU has been shaky, so you can’t let them get their sea legs. Missouri took them out of everything early, and just pressed on until the job was done. In doing so they’ve set themselves up for more than just a secured NCAA Tournament berth. They gave themselves a shot at a double bye in the SEC Tournament.
TEAM STATS
One of the ways Missouri has been able to improve defensively the last few games is going back to their roots of forcing turnovers. MSU isn’t a team who tends to turn the ball over all that much, but a big part of that is because Hubbard is so good and reliable, and rarely turns the ball over. He only turned the ball over twice. But 16 turnovers for the rest of the roster, including 12 in the first half… that’s making their life difficult. Jayden Epps had five turnovers on his own, and he was one of the keys to State keeping in the game at Mizzou last month. He had 23 points in Columbia, and just 6 on Saturday.
The 0.92 ppp on defense was the second best mark of the season (in conference play) after holding South Carolina to 0.90. And that mark would have been better had the defense been a little tighter in the final 5 minutes. With a little over 5 minutes to play is was 85-51, and State closed on a 15-3 run in that span.
- Don’t look now but Missouri has been a much better free throw shooting team since we all talked about how they can’t make free throws. Since losing to Texas, Mizzou is 79 of 101 from the line, that’s 78.2%. In the last game, the Tigers even had Shawn Phillips go 6-6.
- When you’re making free throws, getting to the free throw line a lot is helpful, and in the more important first half the Tigers shot 15 free throws, and made 13 of them. Going on the road and attempting 11 more FTs than your host is a good way to stay ahead on the score board.
The only reason the stats were even sort of close is because of the second half. MSU were 9-18 from 2FG, 0-9 from 3FG, and 5-8 from the line with 12 turnovers in the first half. They were 12-16 from 2FG, 5-10 from 3FG, and 2-5 from the line with 6 turnovers in the second half. Clearly the second half didn’t matter because the first half went so well. They just toed the line.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Trifecta: Shawn Phillips, Jayden Stone, Trent Pierce
On the season: Mark Mitchell 54, Jayden Stone 33, Jacob Crews 19, Anthony Robinson 18, T.O. Barrett 16, Trent Pierce 11, Shawn Phillips 10, Jevon Porter 5, Sebastian Mack 3, Trent Burns 1, Annor Boateng 1
Mark Mitchell wasn’t in the trifecta for just the 3rd time, funnily enough the other two were wins also. Texas A&M and Florida. Mitchell has been so incredibly valuable, and even in this game he had more points than the other three, but the three turnovers dragged the GameScore down enough.
But this was probably Shawn Phillips best game as a Tiger. My complaints with Phillips stem from the times when he tries to do too much, and plays outside of his capabilities. When he does that, he turns the ball over, or takes bad shots. But the emergence of Trent Burns has allowed Phillips to play fewer minutes, which might sound bad, but for bigs is allows them to play harder when they are in the game. Phillips playing 21 minutes is about right for him, and he simplified his offensive approach. His put-backs were quick, and decisive, and his defense was better also. This version of Phillips will make Missouri even more dangerous.
It was a nice recovery game for Jayden Stone, he wasn’t overly aggressive, but did the things that help you get back on track. He got on the glass, defended, and distributed the ball. Trent Pierce was quiet, but really efficient.
Really T.O. Barrett didn’t play his best game, five turnovers is a lot. But fortunately it didn’t matter. Anthony Robinson played as well as he’s played in a while. He’s shooting the ball a lot better, 9 of 18 over the last five games.
It’s hard to pick apart too many takeaways from a “Mizzou kicked their ass” type of game. Mizzou was better in basically every phase of the game, and Mississippi State might be ready to pack it all in for the year. I didn’t think State was all that good heading into the conference season, but they did have Josh Hubbard. And Chris Jans isn’t a bad coach, but I do think he’s a bit overrated by a lot of media types. The problem is his roster is soft, and they don’t really compete hard in the same way that his early rosters did. Their defense is the worst of the Jans era.
What’s next is Oklahoma and the Sooners are not playing ball like the Bulldogs. The Sooners are still fighting. Since Missouri beat them with a Mark Mitchell buzzer beater, they’re 4-5 in the league with wins over Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn and LSU. Their losses are to Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M. They’ve played like the 8th best team in the SEC, and the 32nd best team overall. So this is very much a challenge, and one we shouldn’t overlook because of their record. The Sooners have not stopped fighting, I think Mississippi State has.
Still, it’s a good win in Starkville because it’s emphatic. It made a statement.
I’ve moved the glossary to a static page at RockM+ to reduce the size of the bottom of this post.
So if you’re looking for what any of these stats mean, Check out the Glossary!
In attempting to update Study Hall, I’ve moved away from Touches/Possession and moving into the Rates a little more. This is a little experimental so if there’s something you’d like to see let me know and I’ll see if there’s an easy visual way to present it.
If there’s something you’d like to see more of an explanation on, drop a note and let me know!
