Missouri Tigers men’s basketball vs Central Michigan: Time, TV, prediction
THE DETAILS
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Mizzou Arena, Columbia
TV: SEC Network Plus (online only)
Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)
Betting line: N/A
PREDICTION
About Central Michigan: The Chippewas enter their first season under head coach Tony Barbee, who spent the last seven seasons as an assistant at Kentucky under John Calipari. Barbee was previously the head coach at UTEP from 2006-10 and Auburn from 2010-14. Central Michigan has 12 newcomers on its 16 player roster (includes three walk-ons). The team played one exhibition game, a 114-66 victory over Olivet, a Division III program. Guard Jermaine Jackson Jr., who transferred from Long Island, led the Chippewas with 23 points off the bench. KenPom ranks Central Michigan No. 300.
About Missouri: There are a lot of unknowns for the Tigers in head coach Cuonzo Martin’s fifth season. Junior Kobe Brown is the team’s sole returning starter and senior Javon Pickett is the only other player who played significant minutes in a Mizzou uniform last year. The program will rely heavily on the eight new players it added over the offseason (four transfers, four freshmen), though that number jumps to nine if you count Sean Durugordon, who is listed as a redshirt freshman after joining the team early in January 2021. Also on the roster is 7-foot-3 sophomore Jordan Wilmore, who the coaching staff expects to make a big jump after only appearing in five games in 2020-21. There aren’t high expectations for this team, picked to finish 10th in the SEC conference in the preseason media poll, but this unproven squad will be looking to show otherwise. KenPom ranks the Tigers No. 95.
Prediction: With such a new roster and no exhibitions or open scrimmages leading up to the season, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from Mizzou. Regardless, this should be a pretty easy win for the Tigers. KenPom gives them a 95% chance at a victory and ESPN’s Basketball Power Index has it at 85.3%.
This year’s Mizzou team has a focus on playing fast-paced, largely positionless basketball (Wilmore is one of the only players that doesn’t apply to) with an emphasis on tough defense and switching to create mismatches. Martin said last week that he has a solid eight player rotation in his head that will jump to nine or 10 depending on the situation.
Brown and Pickett will certainly be part of that. It seems like a safe bet to say transfers Amari Davis (Green Bay), Jarron “Boogie” Coleman (Ball State) and DaJuan “Quaye” Gordon (Kansas State) will all be in the mix too. We haven’t heard much about UMass transfer Ronnie DeGray III, but players don’t transfer to sit. Wilmore has been talked up quite a bit by Martin this offseason, but his minutes will probably fluctuate based on the opposing team’s height. Out of the freshmen, Anton Brookshire and Yaya Keita seem the most likely to see time on the floor on a consistent basis, but there are typically plenty of minutes to go around in nonconference games so I wouldn’t be surprised to see other appearances as well.
The first game of the season is always exciting because we learn so much about a team’s makeup and what could possibly lie ahead. With such a new squad and all the possibilities of different lineups, this should be a fun one for fans to watch.
Missouri 87, Central Michigan 58
