Welcome to Rock W (Wilmore) Nation

This is now, regardless of whether or not Sam will change the twitter handle or not, a Jordan Wilmore Fan Site now. Yes, we certainly did all wonder what his relative value was to this team all of last season and two games into this season, but Thursday, y’all, he was the MVP in my eyes. In his 16 minutes (he was once again saddled with foul trouble since 7’3, 300lb men seem to get called for simply being in the vicinity of another player) had 11 points— A CAREER HIGH — on 5-7 shooting! With 6 rebounds! And 3 blocks! Now, in Sam’s Study Hall, you’ll see he wasn’t actually the MVP, but whatever… MVP of our hearts for sure. Just think of where this game would have been without Big Jordan [shudders].

Who saw that one coming?

While the Tigers did pull out the win and held NIU to under 40 points, it was REALLY touch and go for quite a while, as neither team seemed capable of placing a basketball in the hoop thingy. Which, you know, is the whole point of basketball.

In the first half, between 18:48 to 14:24 — so about 4.5 minutes — the Tigers scored 5 points… all on free throws. In that time span, they did the following:

Missed three pointer. Defensive rebound. Turnover. Defensive rebound. FT made (1-2). FT made (2-2). Defensive rebound. Missed layup. Offensive rebound. FT made (2-2). Foul. Foul. Turnover. Defensive rebound. Missed three pointer. Offensive Rebound. Turnover. Missed three pointer. Defensive rebound. Made three pointer.

This hurt my SOUL to type. YIKES.

But you know what? The defense was MUCH better overall and Tigers got going a bit more offensively in the second half, and about halfway through, you could start to feel that Missouri could actually pull off a win. Maybe? Yeah, there never a doubt. NEVER A DOUBT.

As for how Tiger fans - at least the ones who work for this site - feel about this team after the win?

Just as one comes to expect in the aftermath of a game, Sam will have your Study Hall early this morning, so you can comb over all the gruesome stats. It wasn’t pretty, y’all, but a WIN IS A WIN. And as my good friend and overall great human, Florida Coach Dan Mullen says, even as he’s giving up 52 points to a premier sports powerhouse like Samford, “We’re going to enjoy the win because it’s hard to win in the game of football basketball.”

On to the Links! Best of luck to all Tiger sports this weekend!

---

Yesterday at Rock M

• Parker recapped the win, complete with quotes from my favorite coach, Cuonzo Martin.
• Read Parker’s game thread… if you dare. (I didn’t even open it so I have no real idea of its level of goodness/badness)
• The Good Guys become the Bad Guys in the new Joker video-themed uniform reveal, according to Nate Edwards.
• In a new BTBS pod, Nate and BK pine for Dan Mullen’s firing and bowl game eligibility.
• Parker looked at Men’s Hoops’ historic rivalries with both kU and Illinois, and examined which one may be better.
• Sammy talked with Topher Adams of Alligator Army about the game this weekend, and he didn’t sound too confident in his team.
• COMING UP: a new Pregamin, an updated SEC power rankings from Faller, a WBB takeaways from their Wednesday win, a Study Hall from Lauren, a piece on the QB duel, and a Three & Out from Aaron.

---

More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter was back with a new chat, for subscribers only, while Max Baker, in a special to the Post-Dispatch, wrote about Kris Abrams-Draine’s development into a top MU defender. Really great work. Matter and BenFred reunited for a new episode of the Eye on the Tigers podcast, discussing how a the Tigers have two shots at one bowl-game-securing win, and why beating Florida could be easier than winning on the road against Arkansas. And here’s a tweet from Matter about the injury report as well.
• Columbia Tribune: Chris Kwiecinksi looked at how a Mizzou quarterback competition now could continue into 2022, and Eric was joined by The Gainesville Sun’s Zach Abolverdi and Graham Hallxx, to chat about the Florida game.
• TYLER BADIE.

• BTS of the uniform reveal shoot. Mizzou is lucky to have some really creative people on staff like Justin to come up with stuff like this. Super cool.

• Tyler Badie and Barrett Banister earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors on Thursday, MUTigers.com announced, and will advance to the Academic All-America ballot. Check out these impressive credentials:

Badie, a running back from New Orleans, La., earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management, in spring 2021, with a GPA of 3.83. He’s in his first semester as a graduate student, pursuing a master’s in athletic administration and positive coaching. Also a 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-District section, he was a 2021 AFCA Good Works Team, Wuerffel Trophy and Campbell Trophy nominee.

Banister, a receiver from Fayetteville, Ark., earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management, in spring 2021, with a GPA of 3.55. He’s in his first semester as a graduate student, pursuing a master’s in athletic administration and positive coaching.

• So I don’t honestly know what this “Southern Pigskin” publication is, but they like Tyler Badie so I like them.

• Some crootin news:

Hoops

• Choose Your Own Game Recap: Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Lila Bromberg (KC Star). Eric Blum (Columbia Tribune). Anthony Kristensen (Columbia Missourian). Gabe DeArmond (PowerMizzou). MUTigers.com recap. Postgame video (PowerMizzou).
• The Missourian’s Matt Brolley wrote Missouri’s need to establish a long-range offense for success.
• The Star’s Lila Bromberg went more in-depth on Jordan Wilmore’s career night. Good read.
• Check out the highlights from the women’s win over SLU on Wednesday.

• A reminder from AB for the fans to keep showing up for them

Other Mizzou Sports/Former Tiger News

• BIG congrats to Tiger swimmers, Ben Patton and Danny Kovac, who now hold the fastest times in the NCAA in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 butterfly, respectively. On Wednesday, Kovac swam the fastest time in the country for the 200 IM. The Missourian’s Nick Noll has the scoop.

• Keeping with the swimming news, the No. 9 and No. 19 ranked mens and womens swim/dive teams are KILLING it at the Mizzou Invite. According to MUTigers.com, they’ve won 10 events and set three of the nation’s top times in the second day of the Mizzou Invite, and both lead by considerable margins going into the final day of competition.
• Women’s golfer Isabela Cuisana (hey, I was her academic advisor during Summer Welcome!) teed off Thursday in the 2021 Women’s Amateur Latin America event. MUTigers.com said Cuisana will compete for her home country of Ecuador while going against a field of the best 60 female amateur players of the WAGR® (World Amateur Golf Rankings) from Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Ben Fred, in a great Post-Dispatch story, reminded the Cardinals that it’s never too late to sign Mighty Mizzou Max.

— — — — — — — — — — — — —

If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!

If you’re looking to sign up for a new streaming service, you can try FuboTV: click HERE for FuboTV access — FuboTV now has ESPN, CBS, FS1 and more sports channels.

(** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earncommissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)