The Good, Bad and Ugly from Missouri's Loss to Arkansas
The Missouri Tigers basketball team fell to Arkansas 91-84 on Wednesday night. The Tigers still remain winless in the SEC and running out of time to turn their season around.
This matchup had many factors that influenced the outcome in Columbia, Mo. Here's what went well, rough and abysmal:
The Good
Missouri guard Tamar Bates has been one of the only lights in the Tigers' now-0-8 start to SEC play and Wednesday night was no different.
Bates only scored six points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half, including 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Like the rest of the team, the offensive switch flipped in their favor in the second half and he finished the game with 29 points on 9-of-18 from the field and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. He also added a season-high five steals.
Nevertheless, Bates' consistency at the line rubbed off on the rest of the Tigers, as Missouri hit a jaw-dropping 20-of-22 attempts from that area. That said, this wasn't much of a difference maker for them, as Arkansas nailed 21-of-26 from the charity stripe.
Bates only took three shots from behind the arc and made one, but the rest of the team really hit from deep, as the Tigers collectively made 10-of-20.
As previously stated, most of the Tigers' offensive production came in the second half as they scored 56 points compared to Arkansas' 44.
The Bad
Despite the final score, Missouri was close in nearly every stat category. The same goes for turnovers, as the Tigers gave the ball away 18 times compared to the Razorbacks' 15.
However, the difference between the two teams is what they did with the ball after stealing it. Arkansas took advantage of this by scoring 25 points off Mizzou's turnovers. Meanwhile, the Tigers logged 15 points off the Razorbacks' turnovers.
This proved to be a difference maker and the final scoring margin is certainly indicative of that.
The Ugly
Getting off to a good start often makes an impact on the final result, regardless of the sport. However, the Tigers' first-half performance was nothing short of ugly as they found themselves down 47-28 at the break.
Missouri went into the locker room with a good spread of individual scorers, but center Connor Vanover's seven points were the most on the team. The Tigers struggled to put the ball in the basket, as they converted just 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from the field.
Mizzou's defense couldn't keep the margin close as Arkansas hit a stellar 19-of-32 (59.4 percent) of their field goal attempts in the first half. The Razorbacks also had a good spread of individual scorers, but two of their bench players combined for 23 points.
Arkansas finished the game shooting 54.1 percent from the field. Razorbacks guard Tramon Marks led his team with 22 points, while fellow guard Keyon Menifield Jr. and forward Makhi Mitchell combined for 35 off of the bench. Starting forward Jalen Graham was all over the stat sheet, and he also joined Arkansas' double-digit points club with 13.
The Razorbacks' efficiency and constant ability to score stemmed from the inside as they tallied a whopping 56 points in the paint. Missouri was unable to compete in this stat category as they only recorded 30.
As previously stated, Missouri played well in the second half, but its abysmal first half and poor interior defense throughout didn't allow them to complete a comeback.
