Kobe Brown leads Mizzou Tigers basketball to 83-75 home victory over Utah
.JPG "Missouri’s Kobe Brown, right, drives past Utah’s Rollie Worster, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)")
Kobe Brown was a man on a mission. He wasn’t letting his team lose another game, especially on its home court.
The junior forward scored scored 12 straight points for Missouri men’s basketball down the stretch as it pulled out a 83-75 victory over Utah in a closely contested affair Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
“The coaches have been on me all week about being more aggressive with scoring the ball around the rim and just getting to my spot,” Brown said. “So I just tried to come out and do that.”
Brown finished with a career-high 27 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field, along with six rebounds. He also shot 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. This marked his fourth game with at least 20 points this season.
“Kobe’s mindset is of a point guard really,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “We just got to get him with that mindset of every time down. If he can look to score it every time down it wouldn’t shock me if he scored 20 a night.”
The win puts Mizzou above .500 with a 6-5 record with one game remaining before the start of SEC play.
Utah was without arguably its best player in 7-foot center Branden Carlson, who was out due to health and safety protocols, according to a report from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Carlson was averaging 13.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game and was the Utes’ leader in each of those categories. He was also shooting 52.6% from the field and was expected to give the Tigers’ troubles with his ability to stretch the floor. However, Martin said him being out didn’t affect the game plan.
Guard Jarron “Boogie” Coleman was back in the lineup for Mizzou after sitting out the last two contests due to an undisclosed team policy. Martin simply said that Coleman was “just not meeting team expectations.” In his return, the Ball State transfer recorded eight points and five rebounds.
Missouri freshmen Anton Brookshire and Trevon Brazile both got their first career starts. Brookshire replaced Amari Davis at point guard and Brazile took over for Ronnie DeGray III. Javon Pickett, DaJuan Gordon and Kobe Brown, who have been consistent pieces in the rotation, rounded out the starting lineup.
“I felt like they earned it in practice,” Martin said of the two freshmen starters. “And I think that’s the biggest key, you have to put forth the effort and not get consumed with whether or not your shot is falling, but are you defending, are you rebounding, are you carrying out your assignments, are you playing as hard as you can play? Those have to be at a premium. And I thought both of those guys did a great job of that.”
Neither Brookshire or Brazile scored and they didn’t play significant time. DeGray and Davis both ended up playing the bulk of the starter minutes off the bench, with Davis especially thriving in that role: He scored 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.
“I felt like I needed this game,” Davis said. “Last game I didn’t play so good. I knew that Coach had a plan ... it worked in my favor. I came off the bench, the team needed me. And I came in on both ends of the floor, offense and defense, and provided a spark.”
“Mid-range crazy,” Pickett interjected following Davis’ response.
The first half featured 12 lead changes and three ties as neither team was able to gain separation. The Tigers started the game hot from the floor — a rare occurrence this season — but then went cold, missing 8 of their last 9 shots going into the break. The Utes also missed eight of their last nine but had a 33-32 lead at halftime.
Mizzou was without Brown, its best player, during that stretch at the end of the first half. For the second straight game, he picked up his second foul with around eight minutes left in the period and sat the rest of the way.
“It definitely made me hungry,” Brown said. “I knew my team needed me. I couldn’t wait to get back out there. So I was waiting on my name to be called. I knew I’d help my team any way possible.”
Brown made a big impact once he returned, scoring 23 of his 27 points in the second half, including a personal 7-0 run.
Still, it remained a back-and-forth affair until Brown took over once again with his 12-point scoring outburst. The Tigers then made several key shots at the free-throw line to seal the deal.
“We’ve grown into who we are, but I think we still have to get stronger,” Martin said. “We gotta continue to get stronger playing with each other, moving the ball, sharing the ball. And we just won a ball game.”
The Tigers are set to face Illinois at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis for the annual Braggin’ Rights game on Wednesday night. The game will air on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. Central time.
“It’s important just to get that energy, just to get some type of motion going forward,” Pickett said. “Just go into this next practice tomorrow leading up to the Illinois game with positive energy, also learning from what we did today, taking our scouting report serious for the next game.
“I feel like it was very important for us to go out there and get this win.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
