No fancy write-up here, and no waiting for the Statsheet.com graphs--gotta clear the slate for MU-KU tomorrow, so here's a bare-bones look at MU's 66-61 win over Old Dominion.

UPDATE, 9:22 am: Alright, I added the Statsheet.com goodies.

Mizzou 66, Old Dominion 61

Reactions:

• As somebody said in the game thread, with shooting like this, this was easily a game we could have lost in the past, but we didn't.  This does further prove how hot-and-cold our shooting is likely to be this year.  One person gets hot, the entire team gets hot.  One person goes cold, the entire team goes cold.  Either way, with a game played at ODU's tempo (roughly 64 possessions for each team), Mizzou still managed to force 23 turnovers and win the game.  Kudos.
• More fun with Expected Rebounds data.  Hooray, Mizzou grabbed five more offensive rebounds than ODU!  Oh wait, they also missed a ton more shots.  Either way, against a long ODU team, Mizzou held its own on the boards, thanks mostly to Keith Ramsey, who is quickly becoming invaluable on the glass and on defense, despite massive holes in his offensive game (we're going to have to accept that he's going to turn the ball over at least three times per game).

Player stats after the jump.

Player Stats

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds.  It does the same thing my previous measure of choice did (it takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game), only the formula is more used and accepted.  The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

• Ladies and gentlemen, your MVP, Keith Ramsey.  With Party Starter Bowers in foul trouble, Ramsey grabbed five offensive rebounds and, more importantly, played a whopping 33 minutes.
  
• Eleven guys saw the court (unless that was an error regarding Tyler Stone's entry), and eight scored between 6 and 12 points.  Balance!  Some (Kimmeh) took far more shots than others (Denmon), but it got the job done.

Keys to the Game Revisited

From this morning's preview.

1. Pace.  I did not nail this one.  This was played at ODU's pace, and Mizzou won.
   
   
2. Rebounds.  Mizzou held their own.  That's always a winner against solid teams.
   
   
3. Zaire Taylor.  Mr. Coffee ... well, he closed.  His one made field goal was a late-game dagger 3, and his four assists and four steals helped Mizzou win the all-important BCI battle.
   

Summary

From one Virginia mid-major to another.  Mizzou knocks out one from Norfolk today and gets to take on one from Richmond tomorrow.  Take home the title, boys.