The Missouri Tigers' annual dental appointment was almost painless. After nine straight losses to Illinois in the Busch Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis, MU hounded the Illini into 23 turnovers, forced an up-tempo game and came away with an 81-68 victory.
Unlike seasons past, MU took an early lead and never trailed. Missouri's guards did most of the damage, often on timely bombs that blunted any run Illinois mounted. Kim English had his stroke, canning 5 of 10 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 24 points. Zaire Taylor saw limited action with flu-like symptoms, but Michael Dixon, Jr., picked up the slack and gave Tiger fans a preview of his potential, scoring 16 points and playing a heady floor game.
With just over 12 minutes left, Mizzou held a 13-point lead; but Bruce Weber's youngsters closed to within six at the 9:00 minute mark. Mike Tisdale, held in check in the first half, led the charge, asserting himself in the paint and canning a three from the baseline. With the momentum changing to the orange-clad cagers from Bloomington, Mizzou looked susceptible to another late-game choke job; but Illinois couldn't capitalize on some ill-advised Tiger misses and turnovers. The pace of the game had the Illini looking tired at times.
Despite losing the rebounding battle 43-63 and turning the ball over 14 times themselves, MU seemed to impose its will on Illinois for most of the game. The Tigers looked more like the team that surprised us last year on its improbable run to end the season.
Mizzou shot just 41.2% from the field but went 10-25 from beyond the arc and held Illinois to 39.7% from the field. Mizzou showed marked improvement from the charity stripe, canning 15 of 17 free throws.
Perhaps this victory will help the team gel as it prepares for Big 12 play. Hopefully Illinois will rebound from a tough loss at Georgia and a ragged performance against Mizzou to pick up some conference wins in the Big 10. The prospect for Missouri reaching 20 victories before the Big 12 Tournament is "iffy", at best. It would enhance MU's post-season chances if Illinois, Vanderbilt and Oral Roberts put strong seasons together to boost the Tigers RPI.
Looking ahead to the Big 12 schedule, I see the Black and Gold losing at home to K-State in the conference opener and again in Manhattan. Oklahoma State and Texas A&M at home are toss-ups. A victory against either South Division foe would be a real plus. Texas brings a potential Final Four team to Columbia on February 17. The Longhorns won't be caught napping after the Tigers' shocked them last year in Austin. Despite a history of upsetting Kansas in recent Border War hoops battles, the Jayhawks probably have too much firepower, and I think MU drops both games to the Beakers.
Mizzou really needs to sweep Colorado, Iowa State and Nebraska and then pick up wins against Oklahoma in Norman and Baylor in Waco to make a case for an invitation to the Big Dance. MU's recent history away from Mizzou Arena is suspect, and any loss to the weaker conference rivals will put tremendous pressure on the team to pull off a surprise against one of the ranked teams.
Here's how I see remainder of the season playing out:
Current Record: 8-3 Projected Record (prior to Big 12 Tourney): 20-11
Probable Wins: Probable Losses: (Home Games in Bold Type)
Austin Peay K-State
UMKC Texas Tech
Georgia Kansas
Savannah State Oklahoma State
Oklahoma Texas A&M
Nebraska Texas
Colorado K-State
Iowa State Kansas
Baylor
Nebraska
Colorado
Iowa State
This scenario presupposes wins against the four non-conference teams visiting Columbia before the Big 12 race begins. And, as with all my expert analyses, expect this to be bass-ackwards by mid-January.
Coach Mike Anderson seems to get the most out his players, and this year's team still has plenty of time to come together as the season progresses. One thing that struck me about last year's squad was the fact they played basketball. After all, it is a game, and the 2008-09 Tigers seemed able to play without individual egos spoiling great team chemistry.
If this group of youngsters can recapture some of last year's magic, they could surprise MU fans again.
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