3 Takeaways From Mizzou's Overpowering Performance Against Oklahoma

Just about everything went right for the No. 21 Missouri Tigers against the unranked Oklahoma Sooners at Mizzou Arena, walking away with an 82-58 victory. From its energy on defense to scoring the ball, Missouri outworked the Sooners in nearly every category.

That effort started with Mark Mitchell in the first half, showing intensity while attacking the glass and drawing fouls. That effort carried over and the Tigers took over the game on both sides. Caleb Grill joined in on the fun, scoring 15 points and knocking down three triples.

Oklahoma also happened to struggle thoroughly on offense. Some of that might come down to the defensive intensity of the home team, but, at the end of the day, an opposing team's defense doesn't impact a wide-open missed shot. That was the case for Oklahoma.

With the win, Missouri is now 18-6 on the season and 7-4 in Southeastern Conference play. The victory was a great response from the Tigers after losing two straight games to ranked opponents.

Here are three takeaways from Missouri's win over Oklahoma:

Mark Mitchell

Mitchell was a star on offense for the Tigers against Oklahoma, scoring 25 points on 6-for-12 shooting. It was clear that Mitchell answered the call he received from head coach Dennis Gates, demanding more general aggression. Because of that, it looked like he was going to score each time he touched the ball.

Gates also asked Mitchell to improve on the glass. Freshman Marcus Allen out-rebounded Mitchell in Missouri’s last outing against Texas A&M in much less playing time. To Gates, that was simply unacceptable. Mitchell responded to that by grabbing seven rebounds, helping the Tigers to win in the rebounding column.

Even if they weren’t all fouls, Mitchell’s aggression found him at the free-throw line frequently. He went 13-for-18 from the stripe, good for 72.2%. If there were ever any doubts about Mitchell’s ability to score the ball, he silenced them in a commanding fashion.

Adaptive Offense

It was clear from the get-go that a focal point of Oklahoma’s defensive philosophy was to now allow the Tigers to take a surplus of perimeter shots. In some ways, that strategy worked. Missouri only went 4-for-12 from outside, an unusually low mark for a team full of shooters.

What went wrong for Oklahoma was the other 70 points the Tigers scored, 40 of which came in the paint. This isn’t normally how Missouri scores the bulk of its points, but they showed the ability to respond to whatever was thrown at them.

You also can’t ignore the number of free-throw makes Missouri finished with. They scored 26 points at the charity stripe, nine more than Oklahoma with 17. They also got there an impressive 35 times.

When Oklahoma made it a point to run shooters like Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates off the three-point line, players like Mitchell, Tony Perkins and Ant Robinson II responded by putting pressure on the rim and creating contact. Missouri may be known as a team that can burn opponents from the perimeter, but they can also hurt teams with physical scoring inside.

Star Scorers Struggle

For a team full of shotmakers, the Sooners struggled to get the ball in the hoop. Oklahoma’s leading scorer, Jalon Moore, finished with only 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting. Four of those points also came from the free-throw line.

Star freshman guard Jeremiah Fears, a projected first-round pick and the second-leading scorer for Oklahoma finished with only eight points on 3-for-13 shooting. Without the contribution the Sooners got from Duke Miles, Oklahoma’s scoring night would have been abysmal.

You can make the point that it was that bad. They shot 18-for-58 from the field and 5-for-22 from the perimeter, good for 31% and 22.7% respectively. Some of that was simply Oklahoma’s players not being able to score, but another part was Missouri’s defense.

Its swarming defense in the paint and general physicality made scoring the ball a nightmare for Oklahoma. There were no easy shot attempts, which clearly made the road team’s life hard. If Missouri can continue to play high-intensity defense like they did in this win, good things should come of it.

Mark Mitchell

Adaptive Offense

Star Scorers Struggle

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