Frankie Hughes drives for a layup against Western Kentucky (photo/Mizzou Athletics)
After shooting just 25% against North Carolina Central eight days ago, the Mizzou men’s basketball team followed that up with a 35% effort in their win over Western Kentucky on Saturday. Kim Anderson is hoping for a better shooting effort Tuesday night when the Tigers continue their homestand against Miami-Ohio.
Mizzou went the final eight minutes without making a basket in their final eight attempts. They picked the wrong time to go cold, but I was more concerned with the number of turnovers the Tigers had down the stretch.
Anderson is hoping to take some of the strain off freshman Frankie Hughes. He leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.1 points per game, but took 26% of the team’s shots. Sophomore forward Kevin Puryear leads on the boards with 6.1 rebounds per game.
While the offense looks to find itself, one positive for the Tigers is their defense. Mizzou is holding opponents to 62.4 points per game through the seven games its played thus far in the 2016-17 season, down from the 69.9 points allowed through the same number of contests last season. The Tigers are holding its foes to 24.7 percent three-point field goal shooting (95-of-141), a mark that ranks first nationally.
Miami (Ohio) enters Mizzou Arena with a .500 record at 4-4, winning two of its last three games. Miami defeated Western Illinois (81-72) on Nov. 26 and Grambling (78-76, OT) on Nov. 30 before falling to Fort Wayne (87-71) in its most recent game on Dec. 3. The RedHawks, led by head coach John Cooper, opened the season with a home win over Muskingum (84-57) on Nov. 11 before falling to Wright State (89-87) on Nov. 15 and Delaware (68-66) on Nov. 18. Three of Miami’s four losses were by 10 points or less.
