Some good, some bad: Five takeaways from Missouri’s loss to No. 12 Kansas State
Missouri fell to No. 12 Kansas State 82-67 on Monday in the championship game of the Paradise Jam. Jordan Geist led all scorers with 24 points and freshman Xavier Pinson chipped in 12. The Tigers are off for a over a week now.
Here are five takeaways from MU’s loss:
The good and bad with the offense: When Jontay Porter was lost for the season, the offense was going to be by committee with no go-to scorer on the roster. So far, that’s been the case, with any of MU’s players capable of going off on any given night. The issue is that aside from Geist, who had a breakout tournament, Missouri has no one else to count on for consistent baskets — at least not right now. Mark Smith has been good but wasn’t involved as much against KSU and the same goes for Kevin Puryear. It’s all hands on deck for the Tigers and Geist needs more help from everyone. Puryear, Smith and Co. all need to be more consistent.
Christian Guess is going to play: Martin subbed Guess into the game during the second half and while he didn’t do much, it appears he’s here to stay. Guess committed to MU in September after getting late clearance from the NCAA and was considered a project before he was ready to help MU. Cuonzo Martin must have thought otherwise this week. When the 6-foot-5 Cleveland native committed to MU, a source close to the team said, “He can be a great player but its going to take time.” The sooner Guess can make an impact, the better.
Missouri got what it needed out of this tournament: Going into the weekend, a 2-1 performance with an encouraging performance against KSU would have been seen as a good trip for Martin’s squad. The Tigers achieved that 2-1 mark and go into their next game, against Temple, feeling good about themselves. They should be able to give the Owls a game.
The defense is concerning: Kansas State shot 55 percent from the floor, which has to bother Martin. Dean Wade had his way with MU’s defense and scored 21 points ... with MU occasionally forgetting where he was. Other times he had a hand in his face and was still able to hit threes. Missouri is going to see plenty of players like Wade in conference play. A lockdown defender must emerge.
Jeremiah Tilmon hasn’t changed: The 6-foot-11 sophomore fouled out on Monday having tallied just two points and four rebounds. He was in foul trouble for most of the tournament. He has said he’s worked on this, but it’s yet to really translate save for his 16-point performance in the season opener against Central Arkansas. It’s going to be tough for Missouri to win when Tilmon isn’t scoring or rebounding much.
Alex Schiffer
Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.
This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 9:25 PM.