When Mizzou confronted off with Arkansas two weeks in the past, it felt like a heavyweight title combat — two of the perfect groups within the SEC slugging it out in entrance of a packed crowd.
But because the Razorbacks edged out the Tigers in Fayetteville, 74-68, each groups have been outclassed by the remainder of the convention. Mizzou narrowly defeated Vanderbilt at dwelling, then misplaced a pair of highway video games at Texas A&M and Florida. Arkansas dropped three in a row to No. 22 Auburn, No. 4 Alabama and Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks fell to No. 25 on this week’s AP Top 25 Poll whereas the Tigers dropped out of the rankings altogether.
Both groups enter this week’s matchup trying to hold the opposite on the ropes. Tigers head coach Dennis Gates thinks the sport could have a convention tournament-type setting, with the groups having already seen one another not too long ago and one other anticipated large crowd with solely 100 tickets for the sport nonetheless accessible as of Tuesday.
“It’s a kind of issues the place it’ll be a scrappy sport,” Gates stated. “Coach (Eric) Musselman and his character, you understand, his gamers are going to clearly tackle that. And we’ll proceed to play our model of basketball and what we do.”
TIP TIME INFORMATION
Missouri (13-4, 2-3 SEC) vs. No. 25 Arkansas (12-5, 1-4)
WHEN: 8 p.m. CT
WHERE: Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Missouri
TV: SEC Network
SERIES: Arkansas leads, 33-26
KENPOM PREDICTION: Arkansas 81, Missouri 80
PROJECTED STARTERS
BY THE NUMBERS
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Keep capturing. During his look on Mizzou Radio on Monday, Gates spoke at size about trusting processes over outcomes, particularly in relation to the Tigers’ offense. The group had two of its worst capturing performances of the season final week towards Texas A&M and Florida. But Gates confirmed clips of gamers attending to the very same spots and capturing the very same pictures in video games from earlier within the 12 months. The solely distinction was that the ball fell via the ring earlier than and it didn’t final week. He doesn’t need his group to get discouraged. Gates identified that 11 groups within the AP Top 25 ballot misplaced on Saturday, tying the report for many on a single day. Missouri simply occurred to be one in all them. The group could have good nights and dangerous all through the course of the 12 months. Gates they cannot let the highs and lows to have an effect on the method, although. He needs his gamers to shoot the identical pictures they’ve all 12 months lengthy.
“If they hesitate,” Gates stated, “I’m going to take them out of the sport.”
2. Box EVERYBODY out. One of the methods the Razorbacks overcame a 17-point deficit in its first contest towards MU was by crashing the offensive glass. Arkansas scored 17 second-chance factors off of 15 offensive rebounds. Four completely different gamers completed the sport with seven or extra rebounds. It was one in all Mizzou’s worst nights on the boards this 12 months. Senior ahead Noah Carter famous the Razorbacks had a measurement benefit at virtually each place. Gates didn’t assume his gamers did a poor job of boxing the opposite group out. Arkansas was gifted seven defensive rebounds off of the Tigers’ missed free throws. But to make rebounding much less of a consider Wednesday’s rematch, it’ll take constant effort from all 5 gamers on the ground.
3. Keep Ricky Council IV off the free throw line. Mizzou, for essentially the most half, did a strong job defensively in its first go-around with the Razorbacks, holding them to 48.1% from the sphere and 28.6% from deep. Even Council, who had a game-high 25 factors, shot a modest 6-15 on the night time, together with 2-7 from past the arc. But Council modified the sport by drawing a excessive variety of fouls. The junior guard had only one journey to the stripe within the first half, hitting 1-2, however took 11 free throws within the second half, draining 10. It’s essentially the most he’s taken and made in any sport this 12 months regardless of solely two fouls on Council being intentional. The Tigers doubtless gained’t change their defensive strategy — they’ll nonetheless apply stress on the ball to power turnovers and sit again of their zone, baiting the poor-shooting Razorbacks to drag up from lengthy vary. But they’ll have to do a greater of constructing Davis work for his factors.
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