No one could have predicted such circumstances as early as Friday evening. Entering Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, Pressey had logged only three minutes of playing time on the season. That changed quickly when Smart went down with a sprained left ankle early on in the fourth quarter. Stevens called on Pressey to hold down the fort in Smart’s absence, and he’s been doing so ever since.
According to a Columbia Police Department incident report released Monday, an officer on patrol first became suspicious at 1:32 a.m., when the officer’s car was sitting in the left-hand lane at a traffic light at the intersection of College and University Avenues and Penton’s car approached from behind in the right-hand lane. Penton stopped abruptly about "three car lengths" behind the patrol vehicle, even though there were no other cars in the right-hand lane.
The officer tried to allow Penton to pass when the light turned green, according to the report, and Penton stayed in the right lane and would not pass the patrol car, going 15 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone. According to the report, Penton crossed the center line and the officer believed he was intoxicated.
Kenny Hill's two game suspension is up, but while Kyle Allen certainly had his share of freshman QB mistakes, he played more than well enough to guarantee his role as starter in the previously-defunct Texas A&M offense. Kenny Hill will be available as a backup moving forward, and Coach Kevin Sumlin was asked about how Kenny is dealing with his new view from the sidelines:
It’s been an at-times arduous process to figure out what works offensively, but there’s still no panic on the part of Missouri, which totaled 385 yards against Vanderbilt and 320 yards against Kentucky after bottoming out with sub-150-yard performances against Georgia and Florida. "We just watched film," quarterback Maty Mauk said when asked about the offense’s approach last week. "It’s a bye week, so we don’t want to go out there and do too much — just lay low, lay back and relax, watch some film. That’s where you get the most stuff."
P.S. If anything, it's the MAC's to claim first, since Meyer did it all at Bowling Green. It's been the consumer testing lab for Nick Saban, Meyer, Gary Pinkel, and Bo Schembechler, and this is your weekly reminder that everything of football value originates in the MAC. And is purchased and adopted for use elsewhere.
Basically, A&M's offense won the game in the first half, and Auburn's offense lost the game in the final three minutes. And only the latter could have been more unexpected than the former.
1. Texas A&M somehow, some way found its way into this week's Top 25, checking in at No. 24. Apparently, that win at then-No. 3 Auburn was good enough to offset a month's worth of subpar performances and a somewhat misleading win total. That being said, the panel has contended that each week's rankings are based on the latest results so Texas A&M was working with a clean slate—I guess.
Oh hey cool everyone complained about the BCS and now everyone complains about the playoff the system works
The ceremony scheduled for Wednesday at Blue Springs South High School would have happened if Kevin Puryear were signing a letter of intent at Mississippi, Oklahoma State, Creighton, Nebraska, Alabama-Birmingham, San Diego or any of the other schools that were recruiting the 6-foot-7 senior forward.
With his first roster intact and two exhibition games in the books, Anderson still believes defense — more specifically, a version of Norm Stewart’s disciplined man-to-man defense — will define his program. It’s the one variable the Tigers can control from night to night. But Anderson likes points, too. And he’s spent more than 30 years crafting an offensive style based on many influences — a system based on feeding the post, pushing tempo and, maybe most important, sharing the ball.
In two exhibition games, Shamburger played 54 minutes— second only to guard Wes Clark’s 55 minutes — scored 16 points and handed out 10 assists, along with 11 rebounds, five steals and zero turnovers. Shamburger won’t be able to maintain that lofty assist-to-turnover ratio once the regular season begins Friday against UMKC, but his ball-handling and playmaking will be vital this season. Last year, the Tigers had more turnovers (443) than assists (355), with a ratio that ranked 13th in the SEC and 316th nationally.
Johnathan Williams III missed practice time and the first exhibition game with a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. He returned to play 29 minutes in Saturday’s win over UMSL, but his health is worth monitoring all season. The sophomore is the team’s most valuable forward — an inside and out scoring threat, a potentially elite rebounder and capable shot-blocker.
If Everything Goes Right… Anderson, like his mentor Stewart, comes to Missouri with a reputation of building tough, high-energy teams. The Tigers’ roster is filled with newcomers and guys trying to establish themselves, which could be a perfect group to buy into that type of approach. The cupboard is also not empty from a talent-perspective, and some of that credit must go to Haith. Clark and Williams got experience in a short rotation last season and might be able to develop into reliable centerpieces. Gill-Caesar and Gant are talented enough that they should both be able to score right away. If everything clicks into place and the Tigers find a consistent source of offense a second consecutive NIT bid is possible, which would be an accomplishment in Anderson’s first year.
As is the case with Williams, Anderson is showing some grace through the growing pains. Williams hit four threes all of last season, but his coach didn’t pull him any of the three times he let one rip in Missouri’s 77-54 exhibition win against University of Missouri-St. Louis.
I think everyone should go follow Jarrett Sutton on twitter
Huge test for Mizzou guards Friday with Martez Harrison. As a freshman, finished 8th in NCAA in scoring. Top 10 in FG%, 3PT%, and POY in WAC
The Tigers, who already have lost point guard Lianna Doty for the season to a foot injury, played Tuesday without forward Michelle Hudyn, who was on crutches and wearing a protective boot on her left foot. Pingeton said Hudyn has a stress reaction in her shin and will "be out for a few weeks."
Notes
Two more hoops articles from Sam Snelling are coming today, plus Rock M Radio, a breakdown of Mizzou's secondary and Bill begins looking at the Aggies' depth charts.
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