Mizzou Tigers post impressive hoops performance vs. Alabama despite imperfect ending
The Missouri men’s basketball team looked like it was about to take a heavy blow with the clock ticking inside 10 seconds. Alabama guard Herbert Jones slipped toward the basket after faking a screen. A made basket meant the Crimson Tide would have the lead for the first time since early in the first half, erasing a 20-point Mizzou advantage in mere minutes.
MU guard Dru Smith was alert, coming in as a help defender and jumping straight up. It forced Jones to hesitate for a split second — enough for forward Mitchell Smith to come flying in for a game-winning block.
“I’m not going to lie, it felt good, it felt amped,” Mitchell Smith said. “You always dream about stuff like you would be more excited. But it’s just another play to help my team win. I just felt like I did my job and then now we can move onto the next game.”
A couple made free throws and a last-second, off-balance Alabama three-point attempt later, the Tigers escaped with the 68-65 win on Saturday in Mizzou Arena.
Despite all the faults of Missouri’s late-game execution, it was still a banner day. The Tigers picked up their third win over a top-10 ranked team — Illinois, Tennessee and now Alabama — for the first time since the 2011-12 season. And they displayed some grit late, while impressing in the first 30 minutes of the contest.
“Grateful; happy for our guys,” MU coach Cuonzo Martin said. “I’ll do everything in my power to try to celebrate today and not watch any film outside of what’s on TV and relax.”
It wasn’t easy as the Tide went on a 21-2 run with about six minutes remaining to exploit a lackadaisical Tiger offense. The jump shots weren’t falling Saturday, but the Tigers didn’t need those as their lead ballooned to 22 points.
But outside shooting is exactly where Mizzou turned to late. The Tigers’ last 12 field goal attempts Saturday were jumpers, including seven three-pointers. They only made one of those shots. As MU went cold, Alabama pushed in transition while knocking down a couple threes.
“There was a little bit of a shift there on the offensive end,” Dru Smith said. “I think we just needed to be a little bit more aggressive. We weren’t getting great shots, we were kind of settling. Getting a lot of shots late in the shot clock that were still contested and everything. We have to do a better job of that.”
Defense was arguably where Mizzou was so impressive Saturday. The Tide were getting three-pointers, but that was part of the game plan. When going up against a top-10 team like ‘Bama, Martin said his team would still give up some points.
The Tigers stuck to what they knew: They didn’t allow Alabama to run. Mark Smith set the tone early, Mitchell Smith said, when he got into passing lanes and picked off steals. It was all Mizzou from there until the late run.
When the Tide got near the basket, they were just 11 for 23 on layups. It was an inefficient 33% performance from the Tide as only one player shot better than 50%.
“If you allowed them to move around and dribble penetrate, then they would’ve had 85 points on you,” Martin said. “You can’t allow that to happen. You gotta be assertive. You gotta be aggressive. You gotta get in the ball and force those guys to make one-on-one plays the whole night.”
Where Mizzou excelled in attacking the top-ranked Tide defense lied in the paint. The Tigers were able to earn high-percentage shots all game, which they were converting with ease. MU had the 46-22 points in the paint advantage over ‘Bama.
That advantage partly lies with MU forward Jeremiah Tilmon, Martin said. The 6-foot-10 center had a quiet game by his standards at nine points and eight rebounds, but his presence alone opened up driving lanes. Once the Mizzou guards penetrated inside the paint, Martin explained, the help defender couldn’t stray far from Tilmon, otherwise they were victims of a well-timed lob.
While Mizzou slowed Alabama, it was the opposite for the Tigers offense. They were running at will, pushing the pace even after made baskets. The transition chances were plentiful, which contributed to MU’s lofty points in the paint total.
“We never had a doubt in our mind to make it a slow-paced game,” Martin said. “That’s not who we are anymore. We want to speed this game. We want to play basketball.”
Martin conceded, yes, there was some ugliness late in the game. But the Tigers stayed the course with their third straight win. They also dealt Alabama (15-6, 10-1) its first SEC defeat of the season.
Missouri travels to take on Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi.
“When we see one guy playing hard, everybody else follows,” Mitchell Smith said. “Then the whole team, we’re just playing hard, balls to the wall the whole game.”