What we learned as Mizzou Tigers basketball dominates Oral Roberts in season opener
The Missouri Tigers cruised to a 91-64 win over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, showing some optimistic trends in their season opener Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.
The Tigers ran all night, noticeably pushing the pace and getting to the basket often. The Golden Eagles hung around in the first half, but MU outmuscled them in rebounding, 44-32, in a dominant second half performance.
Mizzou’s offense clicked as its trio of starting guards in Xavier Pinson (16 points), Dru Smith (17) and Mark Smith (18) all scored with ease Wednesday. MU coach Cuonzo Martin also emptied his bench as all 11 available players saw action with 10 of them scoring.
“Good team win,” Martin said. “I thought energy, I thought we played at a good pace. I thought we did a great job sharing the ball.”
MU forward Jeremiah Tilmon showcased a renewed style. He didn’t dominate on the scoreboard, but he was everywhere on the glass. Tilmon finished with eight points, but more importantly, 12 rebounds.
The Tigers have a long season ahead of them, but the early three-point shooting is an encouraging sign. The Tigers shot 10 for 25 on threes Wednesday for a 40% conversion rate.
It’s 2020, meaning it’s unclear when Mizzou will play its next game. The Tigers were potentially going to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut for a multi-team event, but no official announcement has been made yet. Their next officially scheduled game is Dec. 6 at Wichita State, but the Shockers are dealing with COVID-19 issues.
Pushing it
Mizzou players talked all offseason about running out in transition to create easy bucket opportunities. The Tigers did exactly that Wednesday. Once they grabbed a defensive rebound, they quickly pushed it with their point guard up the floor.
The Tigers finished with 22 fast-break points. In an impressive feat, they also added 46 points in the paint.
Welcome to 2020
MU announced it would allow up to a socially distanced 3,000 fans at Mizzou Arena this season, which comes out to about 20% capacity.
It got noticeably quiet when there was a lull on the court, but otherwise it was loud in between timeouts when the scoreboard pumped music.
Fan atmosphere wasn’t the only difference between a normal season. Mizzou’s bench — to be more exact, sitting area — transformed into individual seats six feet apart. Players got their own towels and water bottles and some wore facemasks while they weren’t out on the court.
“I thought our fans had good energy as well,” Martin said. “We were debating whether or not to use noise in the arena, but I thought our fans did a good job giving us energy and giving us good noise.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 8:04 PM.