Exhibition game nonetheless, a win is a win.
It was a game of two halves. The first half? Mizzou looked rustier than a 94 Ford F150 that’s been baking in the summer heat. The second half? Much improved and the rust began to fade.
The story of the first half was simple: turnovers. Missouri had nine in the first half, with only six assists along with it, putting itself in the dreaded negative mark. The assists could have been much higher, but the Tigers were cold as ice from downtown, shooting just 28% to open the half.
The Tigers started the game down 9-0, thanks to a cold start offensively and hot shooting from the Wildcats. Mizzou manufactured an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit to one. After that moment, it was fairly even the rest of the half. Mizzou kept it within seven and cut it to five at the half.
There was a point where Kansas State could have expanded on the 29-22 lead it once had, but a Jason Crowe 3 pointer helped settle the Tigers in. The first half ended at 32-27 Wildcats.
The Tigers came out guns blazing in the second. Jason Crowe got off to a quick 4-0 run and shortly after, Bryson Tiller and Trent Pierce expanded that to 11. A Crowe steal that led to his own fastbreak dunk would cement the run at 13.
Another run happened in the middle of the second, with Mizzou going on a 11-1 run. From 50-46, to 61-47, Missouri yet again took control. Kansas State made a late run, even notching it down to 67-65, but the Tigers prevailed thanks to a few clutch free throws from Jason Crowe.
Here are my takeaways from a game that ultimately doesn’t matter, but can certainly teach us some things:
- Jason Crowe is this team’s most important player, as expected:
Jason Crowe looked every bit as good as advertised. Yes, he wasn’t uber efficient, but he took really good shots and ended the night with 21 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Key in on that last part a bit. So much has been made about Crowe’s offensive ability and rightfully so, but I think Crowe is a much more willing defender than some pegged him to be.
Crowe looked really good as a distributor as well. Obviously, I mentioned the 5 assists already, but there were quite a few that were left out there tonight. Something that Dennis said in his postgame presser was that he’s not so much worried about the total assists for the freshman, but rather the assist attempts. Crowe was very effective in the drive and kick game tonight and with him being a focal point, expect that to continue.
2. Jamier Jones rolled his ankle early, but really liked his minutes:
Jamier Jones exited the game with roughly four minutes to go in the first half, due to a rolled ankle near the baseline. Before that however, really impressed with him.
Jones did not start, which may be a surprised to some. Rather, it was Kennard Davis, who I also would venture to say played pretty well. Jones came off the bench, scoring 5 points on 66% from the field. One of his buckets was a sweet and-one layup. Jones also had an assist, along with two rebounds, which is expected given his size and athleticism.
Jones’s ankle wasn’t in bad shape either. I asked Gates for an update, and he said that if this were regular season, he probably would have kept him in there.
Jones also had a sweet alley-oop throwdown (see first clip)
3. Aidan Chronister will be important off the bench:
A stat that is underrated from tonight: Aidan Chronister shot seven three’s tonight. Now granted, he only canned one of them, but even Dennis said that he thinks Chronister is better than 1/7.
Chronister will be a much-needed three-point threat off the bench this season. If there is one area where this team lacks, it’s the three point shooting department. Chronister will need to continue to shoot the ball with confidence, to hopefully manufacture some runs for this team going forward
Side note, he also had three assists. Some of those off of fastbreaks, but good to see him distributing the ball at a high level as well.
4. You get a block, you get a block, and YOU get a block:
Missouri had eight blocks tonight as a team and five of them came from Bryson Tiller. Very impressed with Tiller on the defensive end, as well as on the boards.
One thing is sure about this team and it’s this: this is Dennis’s best rim protecting team he’s had, by a country mile. Trent Pierce noted that it’s simply the team’s height and athleticism that makes them so imposing.
Bryson Tiller ALMOST threw the game away with the turnover on the inbounds, but he proceeded to cancel that out with a clutch block. Very impressed by the Tigers on defense.
Also to note, the perimeter defense was good as well. Kennard Davis Jr is an absolute pest. Cord Stansberry and Jason Crowe had active hands all night. Trent Pierce continues to improve as a perimeter defender as well.
5. The one con:
Missouri HAS to be better in late game scenarios. Granted, losing an exhibition doesn’t matter, but Missouri nearly threw this game away. Bryson Tiller had two consecutive turnovers and if it wasn’t for that crucial block, the result may look different.
I will say that Jason Crowe nailed two late game free throws to ice it. That’s impressive from a freshman, even in an exhibition.
6. Trent Pierce was big late:
Trent Pierce played eight minutes in the first half and you wouldn’t have noticed. Pierce went 0-4 and after starting the game, rarely featured.
In the second half however, Pierce was on for another eight minutes, but in a turn of events, went 2/2 from the field and 2/2 from 3. Pierce hit two big 3’s in the first eight minutes of the second half, helping Mizzou extend its lead time and time again. Mizzou will need Pierce this year, as he is the veteran presence on this roster.
Overall, a nice win. It doesn’t truly matter, but some really promising things to take away. A few things to clean up, but quite the start for the Tigers.
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