Behind Jordan Geist’s big night, Mizzou comfortably beats Green Bay

The Missouri basketball team did what its head coach demanded.

Mizzou beat Green Bay as it was supposed to do — and more important for MU coach Cuonzo Martin, the Tigers did so thoroughly, without much drama. They won 100-77 after they started slowly before grabbing firm control.

“We dominate games,” Martin said earlier this week, explaining his goals for his team a couple of days after an unsatisfactory 19-point win over Miami, Ohio, that included 17 MU turnovers.

Martin said the point-guard competition remained open, with no one impressing him. And he believed freshman center Jeremiah Tilmon couldn’t let staying out of foul trouble hinder his aggression.

The Tigers addressed both of those concerns, at least for one night, on Saturday.

Let’s start with the guards.

Facing a Green Bay team (3-5) that brands itself as “RP40” — relentless pressure for 40 minutes — Missouri (8-2) turned the ball over just 8 times, and only twice in the first half as Mizzou took a 20-point lead into the break. Two of Martin’s point guards, freshman Blake Harris and junior Jordan Geist, played arguably their best games of the season.

Harris consistently attacked the lane to create plays and finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Perhaps most important to Martin: Harris only turned the ball over twice.

But Geist was the star. He led the Tigers with a career high 28 points and made 11 of 14 shots.

A Geist jumper with more than 11 minutes remaining in the first half began a stretch of Missouri making 12 of 15 shots to jump out to a 15-point lead. Geist had 11 points during that stretch, including all three of his first-half three-pointers.

He surpassed his previous career high of 18 with a dunk early in the second half.

Or maybe it wasn’t a dunk. His hand just cleared the rim, and the play lacked an authoritative slam.

“I’ll give it to him,” said teammate Jordan Barnett, who finished with 19 points and converted 5 of 9 three-point attempts.

“I appreciate that, man,” Geist said to his teammate after they walked off the podium inside an interview room.

Geist also made 5 three-pointers, another career high. As a team, the Tigers matched a season high of 14 threes.

The Phoenix, which came into the game with one of the worst two-point shooting percentages in the country, couldn’t keep up after jumping out to a 13-4 lead fewer than 3 minutes into the contest. Green Bay made 11 of 27 three-pointers, but it also turned the ball over 14 times.

The closest Green Bay got to Missouri in the second half was 14 points. But then, with around 7 minutes remaining, Barnett responded with a layup. Soon after, Harris jumped in front of a lazy pass for a steal and dunk.

“That’s what we need from him: to be aggressive, take care of the basketball,” Martin said of Harris, who logged 18 minutes.

As for Martin’s concerns about Tilmon’s aggression?

The 6-foot-10 freshman center scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded just two fouls, which proved that his coach was right. Tilmon can be aggressive and avoid foul trouble.

Tilmon, who fouled out in two of his first three college games, said he was too concerned with opponents scoring on him at the start of the season, so he would just foul to prevent that.

He has since backed off that approach.

“I can’t do nothing on the bench,” Tilmon said.

He reached his double-double early in the second half. When he snagged one of his 7 offensive rebounds, he whipped a pass to Barnett, who was standing underneath the hoop and dunked it.

With the win Saturday, Missouri matched its number of victories from a season ago — and much of that Tiger team is still on this one, which means both MU’s veterans and its talented freshmen are still learning how to win at this level.

So even though Green Bay was already winless in three road games coming into Saturday, it’s somewhat significant the Tigers showed they can complete a boring and thorough victory, just as Martin wants.

Not everything was quite to the Missouri coach’s liking, though. Green Bay’s final two baskets were threes, including one that went in with just a couple of seconds left.

“Poor breakdowns,” Martin said after the 23-point win. “Six points. The last one — the game wasn’t over.”

MISSOURI 100, GREEN BAY 77

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Behind Jordan Geist’s big night, Mizzou comfortably beats Green Bay."