Mizzou to play OU for third place at Sprint after defense, Tilmon struggle vs. Butler
The Missouri Tigers were weathering the storm. The Butler Bulldogs poured it on Mizzou’s defense early, hitting their first six shots on their way to a dominating lead.
Then forward Jeremiah Tilmon picked up his second foul. Already facing a double-digit deficit, the Tigers would need to do so without Tilmon. But Mizzou failed to mount a comeback in a 63-52 loss Monday night at the Sprint Center.
Tilmon struggled for the second straight game, never finding his groove. Despite the foul trouble, he played 17 minutes but was ineffective, finishing with zero points and two rebounds. For a Mizzou team depending on its 6-foot-10 forward, it meant adjusting on the fly.
“I wouldn’t have expected Jeremiah to have the numbers he had in a game like this even with fouls,” Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin said. “That takes a lot of what you’re trying to do as a team. … There was no production from Jeremiah. Now you try to get other guys going.”
But it wasn’t just Tilmon. The normally-stout Mizzou defense tied a season-high with 63 points allowed. Butler also shot 48% from the field, another season high by an opponent. Whenever the Tigers cut the deficit to single digits, Butler had a response, never allowing the pro-Mizzou crowd to gather momentum.
Guard Mark Smith — Mizzou’s leading scorer coming in — never found his shot with four points on 1-of-6 shooting. Of Mizzou’s 12 players who saw the court, only seven scored.
Mizzou did have its bright spots. Dru Smith arguably had his best game of his Tiger career, scoring 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Xavier Pinson added 10 points and Kobe Brown impressed with nine.
Though the end result was a loss. The defense was torn apart early as Butler built a 25-7 lead at its largest. The offense, one heavily relying on Tilmon, stagnated without the 6-foot-10 forward’s inside presence.
“With Jeremiah, whenever good things aren’t going his way, he gets consumed with the situation,” Martin said. “He can’t let linger, you gotta let it go. Whether you’re scoring the ball or not, you have to defend and rebound.”
Without Tilmon, Mizzou’s offense turned to a mix of Dru Smith and Pinson driving to the basket. While the three-pointer again was missing, the duo’s driving ability opened up lanes and passing opportunities.
Martin subbed in a mix of Tray Jackson, Mitchell Smith and Brown to replace Tilmon in the post. While the coach thought the subs played well, it’s difficult to make up for the void Tilmon leaves.
“It’s definitely an adjustment, but it’s something that we still need to be prepared for,” Dru Smith said of Tilmon’s absence. “Guys just have to step up and make plays. Just know that we’re good enough as a team to compete and just to keep our heads up. Even if he gets those two quick ones, we have to keep our heads up. So that way, whenever he does come back in, we can fight back.”
It’s a short break for Mizzou in a bounce-back attempt. Martin said he enjoys the short turnaround because it allows instincts to take over instead of grinding over a game plan.
The Tigers face Oklahoma at 6 p.m. Tuesday for third place. Butler will play Stanford for the title.
“It’s kind of a great opportunity for us to come right back right again tomorrow,” Pinson said. “Learn from the game today and go harder tomorrow. Like I told my guys in the locker room, can’t sit around and mope about it. We gotta move on to the next one and give it our all.”