When Effie Trinket echoes the iconic phrase, “May the odds be ever in your favor!” in The Hunger Games, I don’t think she was speaking to Missouri basketball.
Labeled among the “First Four Out” by Joe Lunardi on Tuesday morning, the Tigers needed a performance to catch the nation’s eye and avoid staying on the outside looking in. Add in a trip to the Coliseum, a place where Missouri has only won once in school history, and the margin for error was thin.
Unfortunately, the underdogs couldn’t create
magic as the Tigers had no answer for the Alabama Crimson Tide, falling by 26 points. Mizzou have now dropped five of its last six matchups against its crimson foes.
In a night of scoring droughts, it took a little over two minutes for the Tigers to put a number on the scoreboard. However, they did manage to stick around for quite some time. The squad did find success at the rim, especially at the hands of T.O. Barrett.
Making his second career start, the guard finished the night with a team-high 13 points. He seemed to be a sole light helping the Tigers cut through the paint. In the end, 44 of the team’s points were completed here.
About five minutes in, Barrett and crew were handed an opportunity on a silver platter to break away as Alabama could not manage a field goal for north of four minutes. Ultimately, the Tigers could only muster up a 7-0 run to supply a slight lead. Both teams then went dry before Alabama seized the moment.
Ultimately proving fatal, the Tide then exploded for a 15-2 run over four minutes. Out of a media timeout, Nate Oats had his team ready to go while creating space and turmoil. Alabama was able to spread the ball and knock down shots beyond the arc on one side of the floor while simultaneously forcing Mizzou into four turnovers on the other half.
The ghosts of Illinois seemed to be haunting the Tigers while they watched in horror as its crimson opponents drained nine three-pointers over the first twenty minutes. Six different Alabama players had success from three-point land over the course of the game.
The Tide also weren’t just dangerous from deep but they caused chaos inside, too. I guess having professional players on your team brings newfound experience and help to the five on the floor. Regardless, the double digit deficit proved too much for Mizzou to overcome.
Plus, they shut down Mark Mitchell.
After dropping 31 points and scaring Oats last year, they were able to find a solution for the six-foot-nine forward this go-around. He only supplied four points for Mizzou in the first half and was abysmal from the charity stripe. Mitchell sits fifth on the roster in free throw percentage this season, but tonight he went 1-8. After starting 0-5, the Alabama faithful could be heard heckling the big man with chants when he stepped up to the line.
Averaging 17.7 points per game, Mitchell finished the night with just 11.
A lackluster performance from the black and gold was also padded by consistent turnovers and other self-inflicted errors.
From the charity stripe, the team shot 34.8 percent. It’s the worst they have shot from the line in all of conference play this season, about 15 percent worse than the team’s performance against Ole Miss. It was so miserable that Alabama fans actually won free french fries for the amount of free throws the Tigers missed. (Editor’s note: Yikes.)
The Tigers also turned the ball over 13 total times. They walked away lucky that the Tide only had 15 points off said turnovers. Additionally, the field goal margin between teams was slim to none. Both teams only made 26 shots from field goal range, but Alabama’s success rate was just about two percent better.
The Tide’s 14 threes compared to Mizzou’s four proved all the difference.
Alabama twisted the knife deeper halfway into the second half going on another 14-2 run. In a brilliant display of basketball, Alabama dished the ball for four passes around the arc with Latrell Wrightsell swooshing a three to add an exclamation to the play.
The guard set a career record with seven triples.
Avoiding a third consecutive home loss, Alabama sealed why they belong at the top of the conference. Meanwhile, Missouri will need to regroup before hosting Mississippi State at home this Saturday.
