Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin gave Xavier Pinson a clear message before Saturday’s game against Tennessee: move north and south and aggressively attack the basket.
“If he’s on the perimeter and he’s passive and he’s not as aggressive, then he’s not as effective, and in the process that hurts us as a team,” Martin said. “I just want him to be aggressive, whether it’s two points or 20 points.”
Pinson was aggressive. In fact, he was so attack-oriented out of the gate that he put up ten shots in the first half alone, many of them off the dribble or in transition when he had the opportunity to drive to the basket.
Making eight of those 10 shots didn’t hurt, either.
“X is effective when he’s going north and south,” Martin said.
Pinson exploded on Saturday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, torching the Volunteers for 19 points in the first half, which included nine from behind the arc on three shots. He and Dru Smith — who ended the first half with 13 points and combined with Pinson for 32 of the Tigers’ 40 points at that stage — propelled Missouri to a 73-64 upset win over the No. 6 team in the country.
Pinson finished with 27 points, the most anyone on any team has scored in a game against Tennessee so far this season.
On a team with so many players with a high ceiling and a low floor on any given night, Pinson is the most extreme example. But when he’s on — and as Martin said, when he’s using his elite quickness to attack the basket — you don’t want to face Missouri.
“Coach [Martin] just gave me advice on what to do and how to watch the games and what to learn, and how I can help my guys, really,” Pinson said. “Going into today’s game, I just tried to perfect that.”
Seemingly, Pinson couldn’t miss. There was a point in the first half when the Vols couldn’t, either, which is what kept them in the game for as long as they were.
In most games, an opponent being as locked in as the Volunteers were — they shot 45 percent from three in the first half — would have crippled the Tigers, but Pinson and Dru Smith were simply not going to let that happen.
“I mean, it’s just work,” Pinson said. “Just keep getting in the gym, keep getting shots up or reps in, keep working hard, I feel like that’s it. It’s all a mental game, a confidence game, and my confidence is gonna be sky-high regardless of if I’m shooting it good or bad.”
Additionally, Missouri stole the ball from Tennessee seven times in the first half, which held the Vols to 32 points in the frame despite the hot shooting. Closing out on three-point shots was an issue, but the Tigers still featured the suffocating on-ball defense that has become their trademark in a so-far 10-2 season.
A catalyst for that defense: Pinson, who contributed two of Missouri’s steals in that half.
Martin, whose coaching philosophy is “if you do everything else right, the scoring will come,” pointed that out after the game, unprompted.
“More than [scoring], I thought it was one of his better defensive efforts,” Martin said. “He took pride in defending, working hard. I don’t think he’s been as committed defensively [as he was Saturday night], but I think he took a tremendous amount of pride in embracing the challenge defensively.”
Pinson will need to be on his A-game on both sides of the court in Missouri’s next matchup against Auburn. He’ll face off against Sharife Cooper, one of the hottest guards in the SEC.
Since he became eligible, Cooper has been lighting the league on fire, averaging 21.2 points per game in five games. Cooper missed the beginning of Auburn’s season because the NCAA was reviewing his eligibility, but he’s back and the five-star freshman is pretty much as advertised.
Missouri will likely use all their guards to defend Cooper, but it could use another defensive performance like the one Pinson just had.
_Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com_
