Mark Smith, defense lead way in Mizzou’s victory over Salukis. Braggin’ Rights is next
With the Missouri Tigers and Southern Illinois Salukis tied early in the game Sunday, Mizzou guard Mark Smith caught fire.
He hit four straight three-pointers, the last of which — a heat-check transition three — forced the Salukis to call a timeout. Smith scored a career-high 23 points, including seven three-pointers, which tied a Mizzou Arena record.
After the game, Smith said he doesn’t think of anything when he’s hot. He just shoots.
“I shoot those in practice, too,” Smith said. “I just take the shots I have to take.”
Smith’s career day complemented a Mizzou defense that stifled Southern Illinois in a 64-48 victory for the Tigers’ second straight win. Missouri (6-4) forced the Salukis (4-7) to struggle; they shot just 29.4% (10 for 34) from the field.
Mizzou, and Smith, were slow to start Sunday. The Tigers turned the ball over four times in the opening 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
Smith said he was dealing with a bit of “dead leg,” because he received a blow to his thigh in practice the day before the game.
Once Smith got going, Southern Illinois tried to contain his but couldn’t stop him. Twice Sunday after Smith made a three, the Salukis called timeout in hopes of slowing down the Tigers’ momentum.
“It’s great when you get a team scrambling like that,” Smith said. “They’re trying to reset. We just try to pick our energy up even more and keep pounding.”
The Mizzou defense got an assist from its length. For the second straight game, Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin started 6-foot-10 forward Mitchell Smith, putting him into a lineup also consisting of 6-foot-10 forward Jeremiah Tilmon and 6-7 forward Kobe Brown.
The jumbo trio was massive in containing Southern Illinois. Salukis forward Marcus Domask, who was averaging 14.7 points per game, finished with four points and no made field goals.
Only one Southern Illinois player scored in double figures.
“Mitch does a good job of keeping things flowing,” Martin said of the lineup change. “He can feel it — he can see what’s going on. He knows how to give Jeremiah space in the post — he knows how to screen to make stuff happen.”
Sunday delivered a dominant effort from Martin’s team in the paint. Javon Pickett scored 13 points on the heels of his 16-point performance at Temple last week. The Mizzou guard didn’t shoot a single three but did damage inside the arc with layups.
Mizzou scored 28 points inside to the Salukis’ eight. The Tigers also out-rebounded their visitors 37 to 21, with 15 of those 37 on the offensive glass.
“We just felt like as a staff, when you’re not getting three-point shots to fall when you want them to fall, you have to find ways to get other production,” Martin said. “With the size of Kobe, Jeremiah, Mitch out there, you have to be able to rebound the basketball to get extra possessions.”
It wasn’t a perfect victory for the Tigers, though. Southern Illinois got to the free-throw line often, hitting 23 of 26 attempts. While the Tigers only allowed 10 total field goals and four assists, they were prone to committing fouls.
Martin didn’t empty his bench in the last moments of the blowout victory because he wanted to see his team’s mainstays finish strong. Instead, the Tigers lapsed during a 9-0 Salukis run to close out the game.
“We talked to the guys at half: We have to execute and finish the game,” Martin said. “Finish the basketball game. The last minute-and-a-half, we didn’t because mentally the game was over — but it wasn’t over.”
Sunday’s win was the Tigers’ final tuneup before Mizzou takes on Illinois at St. Louis in the annual Braggin’ Rights Game. The Tigers get a week off before the noon showdown on Saturday at the Enterprise Center.
“We’re going to be real focused and try to be the Braggin’ Rights champion again,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere; guys are excited. It’s always a great game.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 6:58 PM.