Missouri men’s basketball welcomed the No.1 Auburn Tigers into Mizzou Arena Tuesday. Missouri fought hard and gave Auburn everything they could handle, but fundamental errors doomed them in their 55-54 loss. Here’s what went wrong on the Missouri side:
ReboundingOne of Missouri’s strengths this season has been rebounding. However, Missouri struggled on the boards, allowing 25 offensive rebounds and losing the rebound battle 48-38.
“We have to put a body on them as soon as the shot goes up,” Missouri redshirt junior guard Jarron Coleman said. “You have to box them out at the perimeter so they don’t go crashing on the boards.”
TurnoversMissouri had a hard time taking care of the ball, committing 13 turnovers including a miscommunication error between junior forward Kobe Brown and junior guard Amari Davis when they were up by 2 with the chance to build on their lead.
Missouri also suffered from a missed opportunity when Davis lost the ball with 1:07 remaining, trailing by 2. Auburn sophomore guard K.D. Johnson capitalized on the turnover with a basket to give Auburn a 55-51 lead with 48.4 seconds remaining.
Three-point shootingThree-point shooting is arguably Missouri’s biggest weakness, haunting the Tigers again in this contest. Missouri started the game out hot, shooting 4-8 (50%) from the perimeter before finishing 5-17 (29.4%) on the night.
Coleman shot 1-6 (16.7%) from 3-point range, while Brown and Davis failed to make any of their combined three attempts from beyond the arc. However, there is a bright spot for Missouri’s perimeter shooting as senior guard Javon Pickett finished 2-3 (66.7%) from the 3-point range. Pickett knocked down a key 3-pointer at the end of the game to cut Auburn’s lead to 1 with 35 seconds remaining.
“We just got to play aggressive and read what the defense is giving us,” Pickett said. “I felt like sometimes we shot threes when we should have pump-faked and drove to the rim.”
The Positives
Despite the tough result, Missouri has something it can build off as it had a strong defensive performance, forcing Auburn to turn the ball over 10 times and holding future NBA lottery pick, freshman forward Jabari Smith to just 5 points.
“Coach said they were going to make some tough shots, so we have to keep our heads up,” Coleman said. “We held them to 21-70 from the field, so we were playing good defense.”
The Tigers will look to bounce back with a trip to Ames, Iowa, to take on the No. 23 Iowa State Cyclones Saturday.
Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com