Mizzou Tigers men’s basketball unable to get offense going in loss at Mississippi State
Following a day mired by travel delays, the Missouri Tigers couldn’t find any sort of offensive groove on the road against Mississippi State.
Mizzou men’s basketball was held to 31.4% shooting in a 68-49 loss Friday night at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
The Tigers (10-16, 4-9 SEC) made just 16 field goals while committing 13 turnovers in the defeat.
“I thought our guys gave great effort,” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said, “just tonight we ran out a little gas.”
The contest was set to tip off at 6 p.m. but was moved to 8:30 p.m. after the Tigers’ flight out of Columbia — originally scheduled to leave mid-day on Thursday — was delayed multiple times. After numerous changes on Thursday, the team then spent much of Friday morning waiting at the airport. Mizzou didn’t arrive in Mississippi until Friday afternoon around 3:30, unable to have a shoot-around or go through its normal road routine.
“No excuses,” Martin said. “But at the end of the day, when you’re trying to prepare for a game the mental edge is just as important. My game routine, my pregame, my rest — all that’s important.
“And to have us at the airport from 8:30 a.m. to almost 2 p.m. (Friday), that’s a long time. I’d rather you push the game back to Saturday and we play Saturday, Sunday. Because as a player you just need some balance, and as a coach you’re sitting there having your guys in limbo about what’s the next thing.”
The rust of having spent much of the day on a runway was evident early in the game. The Tigers missed 11 of their first 13 shots from the field.
It was a defensive slug fest to start, the teams locked at 7-7 with 13 minutes left in the first half. But then Missouri committed turnovers on consecutive possessions, leading to four quick fast-break points amid a 13-3 run for Mississippi State.
“We kind of just came out to a slow start,” Mizzou forward Ronnie DeGray III said, “which we need to work on.”
The Tigers were in a 34-23 hole by halftime. They went without a field goal for more than five minutes to end the first half, during which they shot just 6 of 24 (25%) from the field.
Missouri picked up its offense a little bit in the second half, but it wasn’t able to string together any sort of sustained run. By the under-8 minute timeout, the Tigers had matched their total field goals (six) from the first half but were down 16 points.
“It was a tough day at the office,” DeGray said.
DeGray (13 points) and Javon Pickett (11 points) were the only Mizzou players to score in double figures.
Mississippi State shot 49.1% from the field and had four players reach double-digit scoring. Big man Tolu Smith led the way with 16 points as the six forwards that saw significant time on the court for the Bulldogs had their way with the Tigers, combining for 51 points.
“I thought we gave ourselves chances, but we didn’t do a great job with those bigs on low blocks,” Martin said. “... We didn’t impose our will, and I think that’s what the difference was in a game.”
Here are some key takeaways from the defeat.
Back at it again on Sunday
Missouri will have a chance to avenge Friday night’s loss when it faces Mississippi State again in less than 48 hours.
The Tigers will play host to the Bulldogs in a 7 p.m. tipoff on Sunday at Mizzou Arena.
“Second time around, you’ve played them before, you’re playing at home,” Martin said of the team’s preparation for that contest. “With rest and then just watching a little film, I think we’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to it.”
Mizzou is 2-2 this season when facing an opponent for the second time.
Lack of presence in paint
Missouri was thoroughly outplayed by Mississippi State in the paint and was outscored 34-20. It was the Tigers’ fewest points in the paint in an SEC game this season.
The Tigers often fell for shot fakes from the Bulldogs and struggled to match their footwork down low.
Towards the end of the first half, Missouri started to find more success driving downhill and drawing fouls, getting its last six points at the free-throw line. But the Tigers were still outscored 14-4 in the paint in the half. And it didn’t get much better in the second half.
“I just think we was just rushing shots,” DeGray said. “We weren’t taking it strong to the hoop and wanting the foul call instead of just going through contact and finishing — because they’re not really trying to block shots, they’re just walling up.”
Kobe Brown limited
Kobe Brown was held to eight points on 3 of 10 shooting against Mississippi State, marking the second consecutive game in which he’s had single-digit scoring output.
The junior forward has been held under 10 points in 12 games this season. Mizzou has lost every single one of those.
Brown didn’t notch a point in the first half, scoring all eight points in the second. He only played 27 minutes as he dealt with foul trouble throughout the contest.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 10:43 PM.
