To Be Clear…

My D’Moi Hodge fandom started before this HUGE Tigers win (105-80 in case you missed it), I swear. Before every game, Rock M’s very own Sammy Stava (AKA my links lifesaver) picks out a very worthy player to focus on to tweet ‘so-and-so plays today.’

Prior to Tuesday’s tipoff, he tweets:

My response was this... WELL BEFORE THIS GAME STARTED, PEOPLE. Note that time.

Did my tweet lead to that 30-point, 7 rebound outing for D’Moi Hodge? According to Matthew J Harris, we should have expected something like this, given what Hodge accomplished in the Horizon League.

But that is beside the point. I am naturally left to wonder, am I some sort of Nostradamus? A Psychic? A Psycho? Ha… maybe. Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket? Bet big on the Tigers? The Rock M Slack channel was abuzz towards the end of the game, after all, asking how much cash we’re laying on Mizzou to win the ‘ship. Me: None. Not a gambler. Others: I’ll never tell.

Now readers, I am nothing if not completely reasonable 100% of the time, so I’m willing to share credit for Hodge’s performance, because the graphics department also had a hand in this twist of fate. Just look who they put on the game program!! (Disregard the beer part of it; I was happy to find the good stuff)

So, not only did the game program showcasing D’Moi OBVIOUSLY help lead to his 30-point night, but also the game Benny (Sternberg) was on the game program was the day he hit that half-court shot. Thems just the facts, friends.

Anyway, y’all, it’s all fun and games around here because Mizzou is doing this thing where they’re playing an extremely entertaining brand of basketball. Does that mean it’ll always fall into place? Not if you’re allowing 26 fouls (Tuesday night) to better teams or allowing opponents to score 5 bazillion threes (see: Penn, Southern Indiana). But for now, let’s enjoy the shit kansas out of this, right? We’re having fun, we’re thriving, we’re watching some thrilling offense. This team seems to genuinely love each other. When Hodge hit that 30-spot, the crowd erupted and his teammates went WILD. Gates immediately called a timeout and his teammates all came rushing over to give hugs and congrats. It was the cutest, most heartwarming thing.

Here’s some examples for my fan page:

Is he on fast-forward and everyone else is at normal speed? How’d he do that?

Just… [STANDS UP AND APPLAUDS WILDLY].

Tough crowd, Coach. Kidding. Gates never wants to go too, too high on the events that transpired. He’s very even keeled.

D’Moi wasn’t the only great performances fans saw on Tuesday, though. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but that Isiaih Mosley guy is pretty, pretty good. He played 23 minutes, by the way.

When I say my jaw was on the floor….

And don’t forget about Tre Gomillion, ultimate glue guy. Matt & Sam discussed this on the pod, and I’ve been reading a lot lately about all he brings to the table. Tre is quite springy...

Here’s some more goodness. I can’t get enough.

Levi Hutmacher, personal photo

@Mizzou Hoops, twitter

Five Tigers scored in double digits (KB, D’Moi, Tre, Sean East II, and Isiaih), and three more had 5-7 points (Noah, Honor, Dre). As a whole, the team shot a truly astonishing 59.7% percent from the floor. Every roster member played, even Majak (who fouled SIUE instantaneously), Ronnie (!!!), Lil DRF Jackson, Ben, and Mo. Only Majak (2 min), Sternberg (2 min), and Francois (1 min) were held scoreless. I should also mention that things got a little loosey-goosey ball-handling wise and defensively in the last few minutes with a win firmly in hand, or else the scoring differential would have been even more wide, and the overall stats would have been better.

Speaking of stats, let’s check in on the ol’ KenPom numbers, shall we?

After the big win, the Tigers have moved up 2 spots (I think they were 52 when I checked on Sunday?) in KP to no. 50 and are just ahead of LSU (51). Worth noting, and Sam will probably cover this in Study Hall, but they are now no. 20 nationally in Adjusted Offense (111.1), just in front of Alabama (111.0), and right behind Auburn (111.5). In defense… well, let’s ignore that for now… In Adjusted Tempo, they sit at no 40 nationally (73.4), ahead of everyone but Alabama (7th at 75.3).

That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.

On to the Links!

This is my last links post of the week, as the Steger parents are comin’ to town. My impending absence is a welcome sentence for some of you, I’m sure :)

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Parker recapped the men’s hoops bloodbath.
• Brandon covered the football defensive presser
• For the remainder of football season, we’re now condensing the preview and thread into one post. Enjoy Brandon’s post: Missouri Basketball Preview & Game Thread: Up-Tempo Tigers host SIUE Cougars
• Josh pens a new Mizzou Football/movie mash-up with: The Revue: Up the Tennessee River without a paddle.
• New Pod Post! We need to come to terms that Mizzou’s defense is going to give up points, the Dive Cuts guys say. They chat about how the offense might be able to offset the lack of length on defense with solid ball handling and effective shooting.
• Matthew recapped the Tiger Style Invite in Kansas City.
• Nate’s new BTBS pointed out in the title what we all knew was obvious: Inevitable.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Hansen’s explosive 2nd-half leads WBB to 65-47 win over Western Kentucky

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More Links:

Football

• Columbia Tribune: Drinkwitz speaks on Missouri football’s seniors, next game and more (Matt Stahl)
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter’s SEC Football Rewind: Vanderbilt snaps skid, finally tastes SEC victory (Dave Matter) | Mizzou will honor 21 seniors Saturday, but more could return (Matter)
• Columbia Missourian: Bailey, McGuire make 2023 decisions known as MU gets set for senior day (Jack Soble) | Watch the new ‘Tiger Kickoff Show’: Breakdown of Missouri versus Tennessee (KOMU’s Chase Matteson, Kyle Pinnell, Kenny Van Doren & Jack Soble)
• PowerMizzou/Rivals: Everything Eli Drinkwitz said on Tuesday heading into Week 12 NM State (Jarod Hamilton) | PowerMizzou Live: Tuesday Tiger Recruiting Show (Gabe DeArmond & Sean Williams) | Mizzou, That’s Who: Episode 15 looks at the blowout on Rock Top (Gabe et al.)
• Welcome back, Chad Bailey! This is great news! (link is to him leading Tigerjacks Thursday)

• Future Tiger:

Hoops

• Columbia Tribune: At 4-0, Mizzou women’s immediate future becomes challenging with injuries (Chris Kwiecinski)
• PowerMizzou: Hodge scorches SIUE for 30, Mizzou takes 105-80 victory (Drew King) | Post Game Thoughts (Gabe DeArmond, subscriber thread)
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: D’Moi Hodge’s hot shooting carries Mizzou basketball to fourth straight victory (Dave Matter)
• Columbia Missourian: Missouri men’s basketball rolls SIUE behind Hodge’s 30 points (Jack Knowlton) | Four things we’ve learned about Missouri during its 4-0 start (Jaden Lewis)
• KC Star: D’Moi Hodge lights it up for Missouri Tigers in high-scoring win vs. SIU-Edwardsville (Blair Kerkhoff)
• Coach Michael Fly took part in a twitter space talking about coaching the other night. Give it a listen.
• Women’s Hoops is back in action [checks notes] TOMORROW. Let’s go, ladies!

• Adding here even though she’s a former player, but oh man, my heart breaks for AB. Wishing her all the best ALWAYS.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Oh, happy day! We have a fully formed Mizzou Softball schedule, folks! [insert heart eyes emoji]

Read more from Richard Deutsch at the Missourian.

• We got a TigerStyle signal, y’all! A Smith signal? What should we call it?

• Speaking of Mizzou Wrestling, they have a massive meet tomorrow vs Arizona State.

• Missouri men’s golf signs four decorated golfers to National Letters of Intent (Richard Deutsch, Missourian)

Swim & Dive is getting ready to host their big home meet, the Mizzou Invite this weekend. Per Richard Deutsch, the Tigers will face: Cal Baptist, Wyoming, McKendree, Missouri S&T (men only), Nebraska (women only) and San Jose State (women only) will compete in the swimming events. They also will welcome divers from North Carolina, Air Force, Wyoming, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, BYU, Cal Baptist, McKendree, Kansas and Nebraska.

• Volleyball play their second straight home game on this evening against Arkansas. Per MUTigers.com, Mizzou leads the all-time series, 15-4.

Mizzou in the Pros

• Jordan Clarkson & Utah Jazz (10-6):

11/15 vs Knicks (L 118-111): 34 min | 15pts on 5-16 FG, 3-11 3PT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 5 TO | 1 PF | +6

11/13 vs 76ers (L 105-98): 27 min | 12pts on 4-15 FG, 2-7 3PT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 1 BLK | -9

11/12 vs Wizards (L 121-112): 25 min | 18pts on 8-18 FG, 2-8 3PT | 1 AST | 2 TO | 2 PF | -9

UP NEXT: Fri, 11/18 vs Suns at 8pm | 11/19 vs Portland at 9pm (NBAtv) | 11/21 vs Clippers at 9:30pm (NBAtv)

• Michael Porter, Jr & Denver Nuggets (9-4)

11/13 vs Bulls (W 136-103): 24 min | 31pts on 11-16 FG, 6-9 3PT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 3 PF | +23 (YAYYY)

11/11 vs Celtics (L 131-112): 25 min | 7pts on 3-10 FG, 1-6 3PT | 4 REB | 2 PF | -24 (YIKES)

UP NEXT: Thur, 11/16 vs Knicks at 9pm | 11/18 vs Dallas at 7:30pm | 11/20 vs Dallas at 6:30pm

• Dru Smith & Sioux Falls Skyforce

11/12 vs Mad Ants (W 124-114): 33 min | 18pts on 7-12 FG, 4-6 3PT | 11 REB | 3 STL | 4 TO | 5 PF | +21 (YAYY)

UP NEXT: Fri, 11/18 and Sat, 11/19 vs Bulls at 7pm | 11/22 vs Knicks at 6pm (NBAtv)

• Jontay Porter & Wisconsin Herd

11/15 vs Cruise (W 137-112): 26 min | 12pts on 5-11 FG, 2-7 3PT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PF | +3

11/12 vs Cruise (L 135-133): 27 min | 30pts on 9-14 FG, 6-10 3PT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PF | +11 (YAYY)

UP NEXT: Thur, 11/17 vs Cruise at 6pm (ESPN+) | 11/19 vs Wolves at 7pm | 11/20 vs Wolves at 3pm

• Akayleb Evans & Minnesota Vikings: Evans continues to perform for Vikings (Kenny Van Doren)

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