Can Missouri basketball shake off funk from losing streak in Mississippi State rematch?
Basketball is weird sometimes. Missouri has found that out multiple times this season, most recently against Texas A&M on Saturday, when the Tigers forced 21 turnovers, but only managed to turn them into 15 points.
After the game, Aggies head coach Buzz Williams said the game was a statistical outlier, that his team isn't likely to win many games turning the ball over that much. On Monday, MU head coach Dennis Gates chuckled as he agreed with Williams.
“It’s the weirdest thing,” Gates said. “It’s one of those things, you might as well go outside and try to figure out if an eclipse is about to happen, right? Because that does not happen. It’s not normal. You can look at a lot of first half stat sheets, a lot of first half stat sheets throughout the country. I will be shocked if another looks the way that ours looked.”
Missouri lost that game 69-60, its second consecutive SEC defeat after going down 89-56 at Auburn last Tuesday. On Tuesday, they’ll try and shake off the recent funk and win a revenge game against Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs beat the Tigers in Starkville on Feb. 4, due in part to a strong game from center Tolu Smith, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds. The 63-52 loss snapped a three-game Tiger win streak.
According to Missouri forward Kobe Brown, MU now has a better idea of what to expect from Mississippi State.
“They want two-pointers before they want threes,” Brown said. “They want to pound the ball inside, get drives and get guys open on drop-offs and duck-ins. They want to play for two as much as they can. They can shoot the ball, but that’s not their first option. So we just have to do a better job of being physical and keeping them out of the paint.”
That’s not easy for the Tigers, who routinely get out-rebounded due to a lack of height. They’ll still have to reckon with the 6-foot, 11-inch Smith, who has averaged 8.3 boards and 14.9 points per game so far this season.
Brown spoke about what makes Smith a difficult matchup for the Tigers.
“He’s really physical,” Brown said. “He has great sense around the rim, he just never quits. He’s a constant worker. He has really good endurance.”
Gates pointed out that Smith’s time of possession is lower than he would have expected. The forward is able to be effective in short time, which gave Missouri fits in the first matchup.
"He does a great job of timing,” Gates said. “Getting to the basket, creating whatever advantage he can, but also his teammates do a great job of delivering that ball in spaces where only he could catch it. So we have to do a tremendous job.”
After the loss to Texas A&M, Missouri dropped to seventh in the SEC standings. The top four teams in the conference get a double bye in the SEC tournament, and the Tigers are still in the running, and winning their final games against Mississippi State, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss would give them an excellent chance.
Brown said the team does take motivation from the looming postseason. However, Gates said he tries not to think about the seeding until later, especially with how many teams are sitting around eight and nine wins.
“The seeding, you might as well try to go get a Rubik’s Cube or play a game of sudoku or whatever else it is before you try to figure that out with the way the standings is,” Gates said.
Gates and the Tigers will take on Mississippi State Tuesday at Mizzou Arena. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. and will be aired on the SEC Network.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball: Will losing streak end vs. Mississippi State?
