Texas Tech 92, Mizzou 84. Thoughts about the box score...
- We've now blown huge scoring nights from both Lawrence brothers...Matt against Mississippi State and Keon against Texas Tech.
- I didn't see a second of this game, but The Beef called last night and told me that while a couple of the fouls were b.s., most of them were relatively legitimate...either we fouled them, or there was just enough contact that the refs could blow the whistle if they wanted to...and in the Big 12, they usually do.
- Martin Zeno shot 24 free throws. TWENTY-FOUR.
- Despite the foul differential, we stayed in the game more or less due to Keon's night and the fact that we outrebounded the Red Raiders 38-27.
- My prescription the other night was more minutes for Volkus and Horton, less for Matt Lawrence and Butterfield. Volkus & Horton: 40 minutes, MLaw and Butterfield: 45. Better, I guess. Plus Safford got more PT as well, but that seems mostly due to necessity (foul trouble, not to mention the fact that Lyons only played 9 minutes).
- Free throw discrepancy from the last two Mizzou games: Mizzou Opponents 95, Mizzou 37. Part of that is us having to foul at the end of the game, but...that's 58 fewer free throws. GGGGGHHHH. Either Mike Anderson needs to throw a major, major fit, or we need to become a tight-zone team instead of a full-court press team...at least until we get the athletes and smart defenders to run this system, anyway.
Game stories: Another foul effort by Tigers in loss to Texas Tech (Trib), Tigers lose another road game despite Lawrence’s 24 points (Missourian), Texas Tech takes down Missouri (KC Star), Free throws mount up in loss (Post-Dispatch), Tech keeps Tigers winless on road (PowerMizzou), Tech holds off Tigers at foul line (Lubbock Online).
Baylor 116, Texas A&M 110 (5OT). My first comment: there were SIXTY-NINE fouls called in this game, and granted, they played 65 minutes...but that's still over a foul a minute. That makes basketball really hard to watch. One of my best friends (the OU fan) always complains that the way Big 12 refs call fouls hurts Big 12 teams in the NCAA tourney because they come to expect whistles and don't get them. One day I'll look at the 'fouls per minute' in different conferences...see if there's some sort of discrepancy. And either way, power to BU for taking advantage. The Bears took 12 fewer FTs than the Aggies...and made 3 more.
ATM is now in a free fall--that's three losses in a row for them. Meanwhile, Baylor is in fantastic shape as long as they avoid a letdown like the one that smacked Mizzou in the face after their 4OT win over ISU in (I think) 2001. It's almost inevitable, I guess, that after 65 minutes of intensity and a huge road win, the team will take at least a small step backwards, but luckily their guard depth should cover for some of that. Well done, Mr. Drew.
Other scores: Kansas 83, Iowa State 59 (ISU put up a fight, but KU was clicking), Kansas State 72, Colorado 56 (ho hum).
It's Dave Matter vs Recruiting Rankings! Meanwhile, Bruce Walker says he's staying another year...not necessarily by choice, but that's fine.
Baylor 72, Mizzou Women 57. Not as bad as it could have been.
Finally, yes...Will Compton committed to Nebraska. Apparently NU sent their entire defensive staff to his house on their in-home...and you know what? That's fine...Mizzou's coaches had other fish to fry, they apparently felt they needed him way more than we did, and we still snagged two of NU's initial commits (Gabbert, Hoch), so I can live with that. And Mizzou still got (I believe) 8 of the MO Top 11.