Thrashing by Tennessee re-frames context of Missouri basketball’s early-season surge
Ranked 12th and considerably exceeding outside expectations, the University of Missouri men’s basketball team entered its Southeastern Conference opener against No. 7 Tennessee Wednesday at Mizzou Arena unblemished and with the MO-jo surging.
For all its other early feats of strength, this was the chance to carve out something that resonated more yet. Like forward Jeremiah Tilmon said Tuesday, “I feel like this is probably the first time that we can prove that we can play with anybody.”
Or, alas, show otherwise. At least for an unsightly night as the Vols (7-0) clobbered MU (6-1) 73-53.
In a matchup of the only two currently ranked teams in the SEC, Tennessee reminded why it was predicted to be atop the conference … and Missouri suddenly looked more like the team prognosticated 10th than the one that had demonstrated much more upside so far this season.
In one fell swoop, the cohesion and versatility of a hungry, veteran team realizing its potential was undone by the more talented team that looked all the more so playing with a certain fire from the outset.
“I thought they played with more grit, more toughness and more focus,” coach Cuonzo Martin said, speaking to the very points he’d emphasized as keys to the victory.
That doesn’t mean what Martin called “a major overhaul” is called for. But it’s telling that he went on to add, “We’re good when we’re whole.”
As in playing together in a way that’s been evident most of the season, unlike the stagnance that marked the pivotal early moments and the energy that seemed to evaporate by early in the second half.
This trouncing didn’t negate the team’s early success this season, of course, but it certainly reframed the context.
It still says something meaningful that Missouri was good enough to deal No. 21 Oregon (6-1) its only loss of the season entering its scheduled New Year’s Eve game against California.
And win at Wichita State (5-2), take down then-No. 6 Illinois (7-3) in the biggest win of Martin’s four seasons at MU.
And even to flash something substantial by rallying to win from eight down in the final four minutes in an otherwise tepid performance against Bradley (6-3).
That was no mirage, no mere fool’s gold.
But it also says something clarifying that Mizzou was utterly overmatched against the Vols, who seized a 23-4 lead less than nine minutes into the game after hitting their first seven field goals and making their eighth bucket on a demoralizing third-chance dunk by Yves Pons.
The Tigers would cut the lead to 12 in the final minutes of the half, but a Dru Smith steal with a chance to get it closer was squandered when Xavier Pinson missed a transition three-pointer.
And that was about it, with MU never getting that close to the scent again and trailing by as many as 28 along the way.
Among the revealing numbers for the night: Missouri committed more turnovers (21) and fouls (24) than it had made field goals (16), and the Tigers hit just three of 16 three-pointers and 18 of 30 free-throw attempts.
There’s no disgrace in losing to one of the best teams in the country, a team that has a Final Four look about it.
But the lopsided result meant that it also was administered with an acrid swig of truth serum:
Mizzou sure may be a tier above the SEC bottom third or so it was forecast to reside in, or so it seems, but MU also wasn’t remotely able to even challenge the elite level on Wednesday.
So that figures to leave it grappling for position, even identity, with the unranked masses starting on Saturday at Arkansas (9-0). That’s the good thing about being into the routine of the conference season now, at least as much as the pandemic will allow that.
“You don’t have a lot of time to sulk about it,” Martin said.
Or necessarily reason to, either.
MU has plenty of time to improve … and plenty of room for it, for that matter.
That’s what good teams do, and this one still has every chance to be just that.
But if one game doesn’t amount to the ceiling falling in, it certainly suggests it’s lower than it appeared entering the night.
Now it’s up to Mizzou to prove which is the optical illusion: the sweet start to the season or the SEC opener.