Missouri basketball has shaky first half of the season

The Missouri basketball team is 9-7 and toward the bottom of the SEC standings so far.

Halfway through the season, the Missouri basketball team is struggling to find consistency. The Tigers are a defensive team, but in their last game, they let their identity slip away and were thumped for the first time this year.

Missouri is 9-7 and 1-3 to start the SEC. The conference is a bit down this year, and the Tigers will need to go on a big run down the stretch to save their 2019-20 season. Looking back, the Tigers have one big win and one big loss. They could have picked up a couple other victories but they ultimately ended in losses (Xavier, Oklahoma).

The best win

The best win of the season was the Tigers victory over Illinois. The 63-56 rivalry win in St. Louis gave Mizzou a signature win during its nonconference schedule, and it came a game after a road win over Temple.

Those back-to-back wins were the highlight of the season so far, and it gives the Tigers some key marks in their resume. This part of the season also included a four-game win streak for Mizzou. But Missouri needs to do more during the second half of the year. Luckily for them, they get several opportunities in the SEC.

The worst loss

The worst loss of the year is against Charleston Southern. The Tigers dropped that game at home 68-60. Without that loss, Mizzou would be 10-6 with no bad losses on the season. That would look so much better for the Tigers right now.

The second-worst loss of the year would be Mizzou’s last game, and that’s because of how bad the Tigers looked. Mizzou fell at Mississippi State 72-45.

Best player

The best player for Mizzou is Dru Smith. The junior transfer from Evansville leads the team on offense with 11.4 points per game and 4.2 assists. He also is a stalwart on defense. Smith averages 2.3 steals per game, which leads the SEC.

Other players who have been good for Mizzou this year include Mark Smith and Kobe Brown. Mark Smith leads the team in rebounds and shoots better than 40 percent from the 3-point line. Brown is a freshman who has started all 16 games and is improving every opportunity he gets on the floor.

Biggest disappointment

The biggest disappointment is Jeremiah Tilmon, but it’s not because of his play. When on the court, Tilmon scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds and recorded a block on average. But he got hurt early in the season, and the junior is missing lot of time with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Another disappointment would be freshman Mario McKinney Jr., again, not for his play, but because he is no longer on the team. McKinney decided to transfer this past week. He played in seven games before he was suspended right before the Florida game.

Looking ahead

If the Tigers finish off their next 15 games with a winning record, they will put themselves in a position for an NIT bid. They must do much better to even think about the NCAA Tournament. Right now, it looks like the SEC will only get about four teams into that field.

Missouri isn’t thinking past Alabama, that’s for sure. Every game for the rest of the season is big for this year’s Tigers, who are young and only will graduate one player from this team.

Coach Cuonzo Martin and the Tigers must get better each game so that this year won’t be a failure. Back-to-back losing seasons won’t look good, and the Tigers are good enough to reach 17 or more victories this year.