Missouri men’s basketball coach Kim Anderson made his point and was pretty blunt about it on his postgame conversation on the Tiger Network. He basically said the Tigers need to improve their shooting and quit fouling if they want to give themselves a chance to win.
That was the recipe for their 62-49 loss at Alabama.
For example, Missouri starters Wes Clark (2 of 13) and Namon Wright (2 of 10) both struggled from the floor. Each scored six points. Jonathan Williams III, the team’s leading scorer, finished with seven and only one point in the second half. The Tigers made just 18 of 56 shots (32.1 percent) and 4 of 23 on three-pointers (17.4 percent).
“I thought we missed some good shots,” Anderson said. “That’s something that’s bugged us, especially lately, especially depending too much on 3-point shots and not getting to the free-throw line.”
There was also a big discrepancy in foul shooting. The Tide made 24 of 34 free throws. The Tigers were just 9 of 13.
It was actually a four-point game with 14:30 to play, but Alabama’s Levi Randolph, who led all scorers with 20, hit a three-pointer a minute later to extend the lead to 39-30 and Mizzou could never make up ground.