What Mizzou basketball strayed away from late in loss to Mississippi State
The Missouri Tigers battled back from a double- digit deficit in the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
It came off the efforts of a 13-2 run as the Tigers tied the game with 8 minutes, 54 seconds left. It appeared like plenty of time to battle Mississippi State in the final minutes. But Mizzou stumbled on Saturday at Mizzou Arena, losing 67-63 to the Bulldogs to end a four-game home winning streak.
While the Tigers (14-15, 6-10 SEC) scuffled offensively Saturday, Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin pointed to shot selection down the stretch. As his players took — and missed — multiple shots with the game still in balance, it swung Mississippi State’s way.
He noted that it comes down to coaching, but it’s not as if he’s on a microphone in the players’ ears at all times. In the end, the Tigers needed to play within the flow of the offense. On Saturday, they fell short.
“It wasn’t great down the stretch,” MU guard Dru Smith said of the shot selection. “There were some ill-advised ones that we got. All in the under-four media timeout, there were three of four we shouldn’t (have shot). I know I took one that was a bad shot. We just gotta be better in that situation down the stretch.”
The last few minutes were the exact opposite after the Tigers clawed their way back into the game. Mizzou was down 11 points at one point with Mississippi State threatening to run away with it.
But the Tigers turned to trusty guard Xavier Pinson, who’s dazzled in recent weeks. But it wasn’t just Pinson, just-returned forward Jeremiah Tilmon was also crucial to Mizzou’s game plan. It wasn’t enough for the Tigers to grind their way back into the game.
“They kept telling us that we gotta get out there and run,” Smith said. “We did a good job on that run on getting the ball out quick, whether they scored it or not. Just get down and be at the other end and take our opportunities early.”
For the Tigers, they played well in multiple facets of the game. They turned the ball over a season-low eight times. They out-rebounded the Bulldogs — a major Martin emphasis — 36-30, including 15 offensive rebounds. They were stout defensively in the second half.
But Saturday’s loss came down to shot selections in the final minutes — and the three-pointer. Mizzou shot just 20.7% (6 for 29) on three-pointers, clanking multiple open looks as the Bulldogs schemed certain players open. Missouri’s 29 three-point attempts were tied for the third-highest total of the season, though it was met with little success.
Aside from a few players, Mizzou as a team left points on the board. Of the 11 Tigers who played, only six notched a point as five were left scoreless. In contrast, all eight Bulldogs who played scored.
Both Pinson and Smith have carried the offense for stretches in the past few weeks. But Martin said relying on the duo for 35-plus minutes every game is unsustainable.
“We gotta get shots to go,” Martin said. “You have to get other guys to get production. I don’t have numbers as far as points, but you gotta be productive. We can’t have that many guys with zeros. That’s hard to win a game of that magnitude.”
There was a positive step on Saturday, though. While the Tigers battled with the Bulldogs, it was a stark contrast compared to round 1 between the two teams, when Mizzou was blown out 72-45.
Missouri is next set to play Mississippi at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Oxford, Mississippi.
“This team is growing a lot with accountability,” Pinson said. “Being where they gotta be on time. Putting in the extra work. We all just got to get better with that.”