Mizzou-Murray State: Beside the Box Score

It was good news, bad news for Mizzou last night...they were challenged by Murray State a hair more than they probably should have been, and that's bad...but they responded wonderfully when punched in the mouth, and that's good...

• Murray State is projected as a strong contender for the Ohio Valley's automatic bid, and you could see why yesterday.  They played disruptive defense that got into Leo and DeMarre's heads (to the tune of 10 turnovers between the two of them), they didn't get discouraged by a couple of Mizzou mini-runs, and they made some big shots approaching the final TV timeout, including a fast-break dunk that cut the score to 64-60.  But Mizzou fought through the struggles on an Upset Saturday and made play after play down the stretch.  Credit to them for that.
• Former Mizzou target Isaac Miles (18 points, 4 assists) did a decent job of showing Mizzou why they may should have continued recruiting him.
• You've noticed in recent games that Mizzou has averaged between about 1.15 and 1.25 points per possession--this one was a struggle.  The turnovers obviously hurt in that regard.
• Both defenses did a solid job of rebounding...rather rare for a Mizzou game.

Player stats after the jump...

EqPts = a take-off of the Net Equivalent Points idea discussed last week.  Taking points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account, the team's points are re-distributed to figure out who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.  I can go into detail on the formula if anybody asks, but for now just know that that was the intent.

• The positive on Leo and DeMarre were the fact that they scored 27 points on just 17 shots.  That's a great ratio.  But they also had 10 turnovers.  A couple of them were good defense, but a couple (especially from DeMarre) were just reckless.  And as we've seen before, the free-throw shooting wasn't all that hot from these two, and it kept the door cracked for Murray State to get into the game.
• That said, after starting 4-for-9 from the charity stripe, Lyons and Carroll were 6-for-6 down the stretch, which was beyond encouraging.
• In the end, Leo overcame his 6 TOs with 5 assists and a double-double; DeMarre, on the other hand, was held to almost half of his season EqPt average.
• Jaureth Bamford: 22 Minutes, 3 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl.  Laurence Bowers didn't play, and neither Safford nor Ramsey did a lot.  It's pretty clear right now that Mike Anderson sees Safford as the most consistent defender of the three, which is why he got 13 minutes to Ramsey's 9 and Bowers' 0.  I do think Bowers has the highest upside of the three, but I very much appreciate Safford's passing.  He really does pass like a guard, which is what he was until he had an 8-inch (or whatever) growth spurt just a few years ago.
• More stat-sheet filling from JT Tiller, though unfortunately the "turnovers" line was filled a bit more than usual.  Like I said, whether it was a lack of focus or good, disruptive Murray State defense, Mizzou was pretty careless with the ball yesterday.
• You know you have a pretty good passing team when your point guards (Taylor, Paul) combine for 1 assist and you win by 11.
• Speaking of Taylor...he threatened to get just about shut out on the score sheet, but then his steal and and-one put the game away, so uhh...way to make your stats count, Zaire.
• Matt Lawrence still offered basically points and nothing else, but as Leo and DeMarre struggled offensively, Lawrence's points gave Mizzou an early cushion.

Season to Date

• in the per-minute stats department, Matt Lawrence (0.37) is holding off Kimmie English (0.34) at the SF position, though Miguel Paul (0.32) has crept ahead of Zaire Taylor (0.31) at PG.
  
• Jarrett Sutton aside, Marcus Denmon is still the most overall productive player not named Leo or DeMarre.
• Jaureth Bamford: 29.6 MPG, 8.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.3 BPG, 1.2 SPG.

Next up: Stetson at 6pm on Saturday.  The Hatters have played three major-conference teams: Texas (a 68-38 loss), Florida State (a tight 79-77 loss), and Miami-FL (a 79-65 loss).  They're led by a 6'5 guard named Garfield Blair (14.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG), and they turn the ball over a lot (15.5 per game), which is a good sign.  The game against the 'Noles shows they'll stick around if you let them, but I expect an easier game than what we saw last night.