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MUtigers.com: Second Half Comeback for @MizzouHoops Comes Up Short vs. Northwestern
The Trib: Missouri's rally comes up short in loss to Northwestern
Post-Dispatch: Mizzou's rally falls short in Kansas City
PowerMizzou: Tigers dig the hole too deep
Your Trifecta: Phillips-Puryear-Wright. Freshman, freshman, sophomore.
Season totals: Puryear 9, Phillips 6, VanLeer 4, Wright 4, Clark 2, Isabell 2, Walton 2, Woods 1. Freshmen 21, sophomores 6, juniors 3, seniors 0.
First 52 minutes in Kansas City: Opponent 97, Missouri 53
Last 28 minutes in Kansas City: Missouri 51, Opponent 36
It's hard to react to these two games. If you want negative spin, you don't even have to try. In its backyard, this team went 0-2 and was only competitive for about a half. If you want positive spin, all you have to do is point out that, after an horrific start against Northwestern, Mizzou rebounded and had to miss quite a few shots to not end up winning the game. Kim Anderson noted that Mizzou was stunned and lacked all confidence after the surprising blowout loss the night before, and it took the Tigers about 12 minutes to dig out of their funk. But then they did, and they looked pretty good.
I like positive spin, and I love how much this freshman class is stepping up and trying to take a leadership role. But a) I hate that the freshmen have to take a leadership role, and b) we got a lengthy, sustained look at this team's floor this week, and it's every bit as low as it was last year.
Northwestern 67, Missouri 62
| Mizzou |
Northwestern | |
| Pace (No. of Possessions) | 64.5 | |
| Points Per Possession (PPP) | 0.96 | 1.04 |
| Points Per Shot (PPS) | 1.03 | 1.49 |
| 2-PT FG% | 42.9% | 50.0% |
| 3-PT FG% | 27.8% | 43.5% |
| FT% | 64.7% | 65.2% |
| True Shooting % | 45.9% | 60.8% |
| FTA/FGA | 28.3% | 51.1% |
| Mizzou | Northwestern | |
| Assists | 15 | 15 |
| Steals | 7 | 6 |
| Turnovers | 9 | 14 |
|
Ball Control Index (BCI) (Assists + Steals) / TO |
2.44 | 1.50 |
| Mizzou | Northwestern | |
| Expected Offensive Rebounds | 14.1 | 9.7 |
| Offensive Rebounds | 10 | 5 |
| Difference | -4.1 | -4.7 |
- Northwestern shot 7-for-15 from 3-point range in the first half, then still managed to make three of eight in the second half when the 2-pointers didn't fall as well. Meanwhile, Mizzou made one of seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. That was basically the difference in the game. Missouri had maybe its best ball-handling game of the season and kept Northwestern off of the offensive glass enough to actually (barely) win the rebounding battle. But you have to make shots, and one team did.
Mizzou Player Stats
(Definitions at the bottom of the post.)
| Player |
AdjGS | GmSc/Min | Line |
| Terrence Phillips | 21.3 | 0.69 | 31 Min, 16 Pts (6-11 FG, 3-6 3PT, 1-1 FT), 6 Reb, 4 Ast, 4 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 TO, 5 PF |
| Kevin Puryear | 11.9 | 0.41 | 29 Min, 14 Pts (6-11 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-4 FT), 4 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 2 TO, 1 PF |
| Namon Wright | 10.2 | 0.33 | 31 Min, 8 Pts (2-6 FG, 0-2 3PT, 4-4 FT), 2 Reb (1 Off), 3 Ast, 1 TO |
| Ryan Rosburg | 5.8 | 0.21 | 28 Min, 8 Pts (4-9 FG, 0-3 FT), 9 Reb (3 Off), 1 TO, 3 PF |
| Wes Clark | 4.4 | 0.14 | 31 Min, 5 Pts (1-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT), 4 Reb (1 Off), 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 TO, 3 PF |
| Jakeenan Gant | 4.3 | 0.85 | 5 Min, 4 Pts (1-1 FG, 2-3 FT), 1 Reb (1 Off), 3 PF |
| D'Angelo Allen | 3.7 | 0.73 | 5 Min, 2 Pts (1-1 FG), 1 Ast |
| Cullen VanLeer | 1.2 | 0.08 | 15 Min, 3 Pts (1-5 FG, 1-4 3PT), 2 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 2 PF |
| Tramaine Isabell | -0.8 | -0.10 | 8 Min, 2 Pts (1-4 FG, 0-1 3PT), 1 Reb, 1 PF |
| K.J. Walton | -1.2 | -0.24 | 5 Min, 0 Pts (0-1 FG), 1 Ast, 2 PF |
| Russell Woods | -1.4 | -0.11 | 12 Min, 0 Pts (0-0 FG), 1 Reb, 3 PF |
| Player | Usage% | Floor% | Touches/ Poss. |
%Pass | %Shoot | %Fouled | %T/O |
| Terrence Phillips | 26% | 42% | 3.9 | 59% | 28% | 3% | 10% |
| Kevin Puryear | 27% | 41% | 2.5 | 25% | 47% | 20% | 8% |
| Namon Wright | 15% | 41% | 2.9 | 60% | 20% | 16% | 3% |
| Ryan Rosburg | 21% | 30% | 1.5 | 0% | 67% | 26% | 7% |
| Wes Clark | 22% | 22% | 3.7 | 62% | 29% | 6% | 3% |
| Jakeenan Gant | 24% | 59% | 2.8 | 0% | 22% | 78% | 0% |
| D'Angelo Allen | 10% | 100% | 4.2 | 85% | 15% | 0% | 0% |
| Cullen VanLeer | 17% | 22% | 2.2 | 54% | 46% | 0% | 0% |
| Tramaine Isabell | 26% | 20% | 1.5 | 0% | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| K.J. Walton | 10% | 27% | 4.2 | 85% | 15% | 0% | 0% |
- Terrence Phillips in the second half: 16 minutes, 13 points (5-9 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-1 FT), 3 rebounds, three assists, two steals, zero turnovers. Wow. Unfortunately he had 10 turnovers in the first three halves in Kansas City. I was talking about seeing Mizzou's floor this week, but we saw Phillips' ceiling last night. He's going to be good when he's a junior. Maybe even when he's a sophomore or a second-semester freshman.
- Kevin Puryear is exactly what Missouri didn't have last year: a steady box score presence. The Tigers need about three more, but you have to start somewhere.
- Ryan Rosburg was 0-for-5 from the free throw line this week. :(
- (On the flipside, Rosburg was otherwise not terrible last night.)
- Wes Clark: 3-for-20 from the field this week. That ... probably won't continue.
- Good news: Jakeenan Gant scored four points in five minutes and didn't take a 3!
- Bad news: he still had three fouls in five minutes after committing four in seven the night before. That's downright Keanau Postian.
- K.J. Walton is not a fan of Kansas City. At least, that's what we can gather from his play this week. But freshmen are going to look like freshmen sometimes.
Summary
A week off is probably a good thing. Get the bad thoughts out of your head, watch only film of the last 28 minutes of your KC trip, and get ready to beat some bad teams before the trip to Arizona. And try to find your stroke again.
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AdjGS: a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game. 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.
Usage%: This "estimates the % of team possessions a player consumes while on the floor" (via). The usage of those possessions is determined via a formula using field goal and free throw attempts, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. The higher the number, the more prevalent a player is (good or bad) in a team's offensive outcome.
Floor%: Via Basketball-Reference.com: Floor % answers the question, "when Player X uses a possession, what is the probability that his team scores at least 1 point?". The higher the Floor%, the more frequently the team probably scores when the given player is involved.
Touches/Possession: Using field goal attempts, free throw attempts, assists and turnovers, Touches attempt to estimate "the number of times a player touched the ball in an attacking position on the floor." Take the estimated touches and divide it by the estimated number of possessions for which a player was on the court, and you get a rough idea of how many times a player touched the ball in a given possession. For point guards, you'll see the number in the 3-4 range. For shooting guards and wings, 2-3. For an offensively limited center, 1.30. You get the idea.
Anyway, using the Touches figure, we can estimate the percentage of time a player "in an attacking position" passes, shoots, turns the ball over, or gets fouled.