Mizzou Tigers men’s basketball rallies in second half for home victory over Georgia
The Missouri Tigers entered the last game of the regular season in the midst of one of the worst years in program history, just one of six teams in the history of the program with 20 losses.
It seemed as though things were only going to get worse when Mizzou men’s basketball trailed Georgia — the worst team in the SEC — by nine points at halftime. But the Tigers rallied in the second half and escaped with a 79-69 victory Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
“They have that in them,” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “It’s just the consistency, and I think that’s what makes average, good and great teams — you have a consistent level of focus and determination every possession down. Because it’s easier said than done ... to be able to do it every possession, to get a defensive stop, to know my assignment every possession down, and you have to grow into that. But I’m happy for them, they got a win.”
The Tigers’ victory put an end to their six-game losing streak.
Missouri (11-20, 5-13 SEC) outscored its opponent 49-30 in the final frame of action, during which it shot 64.5% from the field.
The Tigers allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 56% from the field in the first half, but they held the Bulldogs to 33.3% shooting in the second.
“We didn’t play physical at all in that first half. Period,” Javon Pickett said. “We let them get whatever they wanted. They had guys that don’t really dribble dribbling the ball, you know, just getting whatever shots they wanted, especially in the paint. In the second half, we just played a little bit more aggressive. We talked out a few things with communication on the court and it helped us out.”
The Tigers got off to a horrendous start to the day. Georgia went on a 9-0 run in less than two minutes, forcing Martin to call an early timeout.
Georgia led by as many as 14 points and had a 39-30 advantage over Mizzou at halftime. The Bulldogs shot 56% from the field and scored 17 points off of MU turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
“I don’t get overly concerned when you’re (down) like that because I’ve been in these situations as a player and I’ve been in them as a coach,” Martin said. “Settle down, just focus on the task at hand, one possession at a time, and we’ll be okay.
“Because it’s really just, you know, it’s amazing when you’re able to take the scouting report to the floor — and that’s a tremendous amount of focus and maturity. And sometimes that means I’ll never get a shot, but I gotta be to defend, rebound and play hard.”
Missouri found some much-needed life in the second half. The Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 26-11 across the first 10 minutes out of the break in taking a four-point lead.
The Tigers took their largest lead of the day with a little over four minutes left, up 69-59.
The Bulldogs brought the game back within six points with less than two minutes left and had the chance to shorten it further at the free-throw line, but Kario Oquendo missed both shots and Missouri was able to close out the game with the win.
Kobe Brown led the Tigers with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Javon Pickett, Jarron Coleman and Ronnie DeGray III each scored 12 points.
“Any win feels good,” Coleman said. “We started off bad. It was a good type of win for us to come back and get our momentum going ... Hopefully we can go into the (SEC) Tournament with more consistency playing 40 minutes.”
Here are some key takeaways from the game.
Javon Pickett comes through on Senior Day
Javon Pickett entered his Senior Day amid a career-best streak of 14 straight conference games in double-digit scoring.
When he was held to zero points on 0-for-7 shooting in the first half, it appeared as though that stretch would come to a close in what could potentially be his last game at Mizzou Arena. (He has the option to return for another year due to COVID-19 eligibility.)
Pickett scored his first basket of the night with a little over 12 minutes left in the game to tie things at 51-51. He went on to score 12 points on the afternoon, also finishing with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“We continued to fight throughout the whole game,” Pickett said. “A little bit before the game I was a little nervous, had some jitters. Just wanted to go out there and win one last time on this court.”
Tigers have the edge on the boards
The Tigers dominated the boards in Saturday’s game.
They out-rebounded the Bulldogs 43-24. That included a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass, which led to 19 second-chance points.
“That’s one of the main focuses in practice, film, whatever,” Brown said when asked about the second chance points. “Coach is always texting the bigs and sometimes (Javon), sometimes the other guards about, you know, we gotta give ourselves a second chance. We can’t make one shot and out. We gotta to get our hands on as many second chance shots as we can. So it’s big emphasis for our team.”
Missouri is now 11-2 on the season when out-rebounding its opponent, doing so in each of its wins.
Freshman Trevon Brazile led the Tigers with 10 rebounds. He also scored eight points.
“Look at Trevor Brazile from the time he started to where he is now,” Martin said. “We didn’t think he was gonna play today, he had his hand and his elbow bandage up from that play (last game), but he was playing.”
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
The turnover woes continued for the Tigers.
Missouri turned the over 14 times against Georgia, leading to 22 points for the Bulldogs.
This issue isn’t new, it’s been the storyline all year.
Despite those struggles, the Tigers were still able to come away with a win.
SEC Tournament is up next
Mizzou will be the 12th seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Tampa.
The Tigers will play on the dreaded first day of conference tournament. They are set to compete in the first game on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Central time against the 13th seed, which will be Mississippi.
Missouri won both of its games against Ole Miss this season. If the Tigers are able to do it again, they’ll advance to play the 5-seed on Thursday.
This story was originally published March 5, 2022 at 4:44 PM.
