Coming off a disappointing loss to Arkansas, the Mizzou Tigers hosted a South Carolina team that has had an underwhelming season, to say the least. All season long, Caleb Grill's shooting has propelled the Tigers, and against South Carolina, the same narrative played out. Grill entered the game and scored 10 points in his first 4 minutes. Following Grill's outburst, Jacob Crews came in and knocked down two quick threes, and the Tigers were running away with the game.
In addition to Grill, Mark Mitchell was excellent in the first half, adding 11 points to the effort. The duo combined for 25 of the Tigers' 52 first-half points as they went into the locker room with a 15-point lead. The second half was more of the same as the Tigers continued to dominate. Anthony Robinson II was impressive throughout, finishing the game with 14 points and 8 assists. Robinson and Perkins led the way as the Tigers closed out an impressive 101-71 victory.
Another standout note from the victory was the Tigers' ability to limit turnovers. In the past two games at Mizzou Arena (against Alabama and South Carolina), the Tigers have averaged just 7 turnovers across the two home wins.
What looked good vs. South Carolina:
- 7 turnovers
- 11/19 3FG
- Forced 15 turnovers
- All around, the shooting performance (64/58/83)
What looked bad vs. South Carolina:
- Allowed 12 South Carolina offensive rebounds
Coming off a big win, the Tigers faced a very underrated Vanderbilt team on Saturday night. Once again, Caleb Grill sparked the Tigers, coming off the bench to score 11 quick points as Mizzou took an early lead. Behind impressive first halves from Tamar Bates and Grill, the Tigers found themselves up by a comfortable 9 points at halftime.
Throughout the first half, the overarching story was the poor shooting from the Commodores, who shot 11-of-35 from the field and 1-of-13 from three. Despite the shooting struggles, their offensive rebounding kept them in the game, as they grabbed a staggering 14 offensive rebounds in the opening half.
In the second half, Vanderbilt flipped a switch and began knocking down shots from all over the floor. Despite their charge, Anthony Robinson II had an impressive second half, hitting big shots for the Tigers in the closing minutes.
With the Tigers holding a six-point lead with 1:30 left in regulation, the Commodores refused to go away. Both Jason Edwards and Tyler Nickel hit clutch threes, sending the game to overtime, where Vanderbilt would pull away. The Tigers lost 97-93 and are now "on the outside looking in" at a chance for a double bye in the SEC tournament.
What looked good vs. Vanderbilt:
- 28/35 (80%) on FTs
- 9/22 (41%) on 3FG
- Forced 14 turnovers
What looked bad vs. Vanderbilt:
- Gave up 18 offensive rebounds
- Couldn’t find Vandy’s shooters down the stretch, they proceeded to hit big shots and force overtime
- 8 turnovers in second half
Takeaways from the week:
- Anthony Robinson is a totally “underlooked” x-factor for this team
- Caleb Grill can shoot them out of games
- Mark Mitchell will struggle with bigger, more physical defenders
Current Record: 21-8 (SEC: 10-6)
Next Week:
Wednesday (3/5): away at Oklahoma (7 pm CST)
Saturday (3/8): home vs. Kentucky (11 am CST)