First of all, I'd just like to say that I'm offended. In 24 hours, "Is Hilary Swank hot?" got over 150 votes. In a week, my random Mizzou-related poll questions will be lucky to get 75 votes. It's a travesty, a sham, and a mockery.
Anyway, to the game. Two minutes in, Texas Tech was on pace for 100 turnovers. They ended up with a rather insane 29. That made the difference in a game where Tech grabbed too many offensive boards and, for a brief moment, looked ready to make an OSU-like comeback before Marcus Denmon, perpetrator of a 6-0 OSU run on Wednesday, went on a 7-0 run with about 5:00 left to seal the deal for the home team.
| Mizzou | Tech |
|
| Points Per Minute |
2.43 | 2.15 |
| Points Per Possession (PPP) |
1.17 | 1.04 |
| Points Per Shot (PPS) |
1.47 | 1.39 |
| 2-PT FG% | 54.3% | 50.0% |
| 3-PT FG% | 25.0% | 37.5% |
| FT% | 78.0% | 75.9% |
| True Shooting % | 57.7% | 57.5% |
| Mizzou | Tech | |
| Assists | 18 | 15 |
| Steals | 20 | 11 |
| Turnovers | 14 | 29 |
| Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO |
2.71 | 0.90 |
| Mizzou | Tech | |
| Expected Offensive Rebounds | 14 | 13 |
| Offensive Rebounds | 15 | 19 |
| Difference | +1 | +6 |
- Shooting was almost dead even, and Tech was about +5 in rebounds...but once again BCI won the game for Mizzou. Mizzou's 14 turnovers were a bit on the high side for them...and still less than half as many as Tech. Meanwhile, Tech's 15 assists were also pretty impressive...but they still managed just a 0.90 BCI.
| Player | AdjGS* | GmSc/Min | Line |
| DeMarre Carroll | 25.22 | 0.79 | 27 Pts, 6 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Blk |
| Marcus Denmon | 15.16 | 0.84 | 14 Pts, 4 Reb, 2 Ast |
| Keith Ramsey | 12.84 | 0.56 | 9 Pts, 7 Reb (4 Off), 2 Stl |
| Leo Lyons | 11.76 | 0.90 | 12 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast |
| J.T. Tiller | 10.52 | 0.44 | 8 Pts, 2 Ast, 7 Stl, 2 Blk, 3 TO |
| Zaire Taylor | 9.90 | 0.34 | 7 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast |
| Kim English | 8.51 | 0.39 | 13 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl |
| Laurence Bowers | 3.56 | 0.71 | 3 Pts |
| Justin Safford | 2.01 | 0.34 | 0 Pts, 2 Stl |
| Miguel Paul | 1.55 | 0.12 | 4 Pts, 2 Stl |
| Michael Anderson Jr. | -1.08 | -0.54 | 1 foul in 2 minutes |
| Matt Lawrence | -2.94 | -0.23 | 0 Pts, 0-for-3 from 3-pt range |
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.
- J.T. Tiller averaged almost a steal for every three minutes he was on the court. Holy moly. His four fouls and three turnovers prevented him from posting a more exorbitant game score, though.
- There was no main perpetrator in giving up so many offensive rebounds to Tech--Leo Lyons had 0.15 defensive rebounds per minute, while DeMarre Carroll and Keith Ramsey both had 0.13. Laurence Bowers didn't grab one, but he was (inexplicably) only on the court for 5 minutes.
- Kudos to Leo Lyons for going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. DeMarre's 7-for-13 left something to be desired, but the rest of the team beyond those two went 17-for-20, and the guards (Taylor, Tiller, Denmon) went 14-for-14.
- By the way, that adds up to 41 free throws, a jarring total for fans still used to non-aggressive Mizzou teams of yore.
- Submitted without commentary: Laurence Bowers 0.71 AdjGS/Min, Justin Safford 0.34.
- Since I was in class and didn't see the game...why did Mike Anderson Jr. get two minutes in the first half? Anyone?
vs Big 12
Mizzou: 4-1
| Mizzou | Opp. |
|
| Points Per Minute |
2.15 | 1.73 |
| Points Per Possession (PPP) |
1.16 | 0.93 |
| Points Per Shot (PPS) |
1.43 | 1.23 |
| 2-PT FG% | 55.6% | 44.2% |
| 3-PT FG% | 39.8% | 29.8% |
| FT% | 67.2% | 73.3% |
| True Shooting % |
60.1% | 50.9% |
| Mizzou | Opp. | |
| Assists | 93 | 52 |
| Steals | 57 | 36 |
| Turnovers | 67 | 99 |
| Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO |
2.24 | 0.89 |
| Mizzou | Opp. | |
| Expected Offensive Rebounds | 60 | 66 |
| Offensive Rebounds | 53 | 62 |
| Difference | -7 | -4 |
- Not much to say about these numbers--you know what to expect by now if you've been reading these all season. Outstanding PPP for Mizzou, dwarfing BCI posted by Mizzou, slight deficit in rebounding. They have an identity, and more than previous seasons they're inflicting their identity on their opponents.
| Player | AdjGS/Gm* | GS/Min | Line |
| DeMarre Carroll | 16.59 | 0.61 | 15.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.2 BPG, 1.0 SPG |
| Zaire Taylor | 10.40 | 0.43 | 6.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.2 SPG |
| Marcus Denmon | 10.37 | 0.56 | 11.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.8 APG |
| Leo Lyons | 9.01 | 0.49 | 11.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.0 SPG |
| J.T. Tiller | 8.62 | 0.37 | 9.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, 2.2 SPG |
| Keith Ramsey | 8.07 | 0.41 | 7.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.0 BPG |
| Kim English | 6.60 | 0.40 | 7.4 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.2 SPG |
| Matt Lawrence | 6.22 | 0.32 | 6.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.4 SPG |
| Laurence Bowers | 4.91 | 0.52 | 5.8 PPG, 1.8 RPG |
| Miguel Paul | 3.77 | 0.31 | 2.6 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.0 SPG |
| Justin Safford | 3.67 | 0.37 | 3.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.2 APG |
| Michael Anderson Jr. | 0.74 | 0.12 | 1.0 RPG, 1.0 Coach's Son |
| Jarrett Sutton | 0.24 | 0.08 | 1.5 PPG |
| Steve Moore | -0.48 | -0.09 | 1.5 PPG, 1.0 RPG |
Some more per minute stats:
Point Guard: Zaire Taylor 0.43 AdjGS/Min, Miguel Paul 0.31
Shooting Guard: Marcus Denmon 0.56, J.T. Tiller 0.37
Small Forward: Kim English 0.40, Matt Lawrence 0.32
Power Forward / Center: DeMarre Carroll 0.61, Laurence Bowers 0.52, Leo Lyons 0.49, Keith Ramsey 0.41, Justin Safford 0.37, Steve Moore -0.09
Finally, major kudos to Mike Anderson for pushing the right buttons over the past four games. With Leo's suspension, Chris Paul's cousin, and the Nebraska loss, this season could have taken a negative turn, but instead Mizzou has caught fire. The starting lineup is productive with Matt Lawrence AND Leo Lyons coming off the bench, there is major scoring potential on said bench, the team has good spirits and a good rhythm, and...needless to say, the tone in Mizzouland has changed from two weeks ago right now, when Mizzou had lost to Nebraska and was never ever going to get over the hump.
Now...we're not over the hump now either, but there's at least a reason for optimism.