Missouri Tigers basketball: Studs and Duds vs Arkansas
After back-to-back losses, the Missouri Tigers bounced back with a huge home win over Arkansas. A team effort led Mizzou to an 83-79 overtime victory.
Missouri Tigers guard Xavier Pinson is on fire right now.
The sophomore point guard has been leading Mizzou throughout their past few games, but on Saturday he exploded for a career high 24 points in the 2020 Rally for Rhyan game. The rest of the team played great defense, and the Tigers picked up a much needed win.
Studs vs Arkansas
Stud #1: Xavier Pinson
Pinson is playing the best basketball of his life right now. While it hasn’t been translating to a bunch of wins, it is great to see his improvement.
He is playing with more confidence and his game is rising on both ends of the floor. This led to a 24-point explosion against the Razorbacks.
He also chipped in seven rebounds, three assists and one steal in 41 minutes.
Stud #2: Javon Pickett
Javon Pickett proved how valuable he is to this team against Arkansas. Mason Jones was coming off of a 40-point game against Auburn and Pickett was matched up with him for most of the game.
The result? Jones was 3-of-14 from the field and 0-of-6 from three and fouled out of the game down the stretch.
Pickett also chipped in 14 points and six rebounds off of the bench. The Tigers are now 7-0 this season when Pickett scores in double digits.
Stud #3: Tray Jackson
Tray Jackson didn’t fill up the box score, but he played meaningful minutes and scored very clutch points.
Jackson scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds, but his most impact sequence was a block late in the game that was followed by a put-back dunk on the other end.
In just 15 minutes he left a huge impact on the outcome of the game.
Duds vs Arkansas
Dud #1: Kobe Brown
Kobe Brown started SEC play so well and has since disappeared. In 18 minutes he scored 4 points on 1-of-3 shooting.
Ever since missing a game with an illness, Brown hasn’t looked like himself. He falls asleep on defense and can’t find his place within the offense. His fit is becoming somewhat awkward but this may be due to Mizzou’s lack of depth down low while Jeremiah Tilmon nurses his injury.
Dud #2: Torrence Watson
Torrence Watson again hurt the team more than helped it. After scoring 14 points in the final six minutes against West Virginia, Watson has struggled to even make a shot, going 3-of-20 from the field in the Tigers’ last four outings.
His shooting has to improve or his minutes will continue to decline. Watson is somewhat slow on defense, and if he can’t make shots, he won’t provide much to the team.