Missouri’s Kobe Brown claps during the final minute of his team’s 89-75 victory over Kentucky in a game on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, in Columbia, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri men’s basketball team’s grueling five-game stretch hasn’t been the quagmire most figured for first-year coach Dennis Gates and his Tigers, now ranked No. 20 after winning three of their last four. Next, the finale in the five-game, 26-day slog — Wednesday’s test at No. 13 Arkansas against a Razorbacks team that’s already been waylaid by injuries.
Arkansas, a trendy preseason Final Four choice, won’t have five-star freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. or sophomore forward and Mizzou transfer Trevon Brazile, who’s out for the year with a torn knee ligament. Smith’s situation is especially murky. The projected NBA lottery pick missed the first six games of the season then came out early in wins over Oklahoma and Bradley. Listed as out indefinitely due to “right knee management,” Smith has missed the last two games and won’t play Wednesday when the Tigers (12-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) visit Bud Walton Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network. (A five-star phenom and expected lottery pick with a mysteriously lingering injury? That’s enough to give Mizzou fans Michael Porter Jr. flashbacks.)
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Still, those injuries shouldn’t dilute a top-20 showdown in a series that’s been all Hogs lately. Eric Musselman‘s Razorbacks (11-2, 0-1 SEC) have won four straight over Mizzou and five of seven overall since he came to Fayetteville.
Coming off wins over Illinois and Kentucky, ranked Nos. 16 and 19 in The Associated Press poll at the time, Mizzou is going for a third straight victory over a ranked opponent — something the Tigers have never done in program history. MU has played three or more ranked teams in consecutive games just seven times since the AP poll was born in the 1940s and not since 2007-08.
“I think they play really hard. I think they’re extremely well-coached,” Musselman said of Missouri this week. “I think they understand their roles. They’re a team that looks like they’re having fun together, and they’re really healthy. And so you add all those things together, and you see a team that’s 12-1. I don’t see an injury on their team. They’ve got a returner … in Kobe Brown who’s an all-league player. They did a great job in the portal. … There’s guys who we haven’t even talked about that are coming in off the bench and doing a good job for them. So, it’s a well-coached, confident basketball team, and they’re probably playing their best basketball of the season their last two games.”
Missouri point guard Nick Honor drives around Illinois defender Terrence Shannon Jr. in the first half of the Braggin’ Rights Game at Enterprise Center on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022.
Gates was not made available for interviews with local media this week.
Wednesday’s matchup features one of the nation’s elite defensive teams (Arkansas) against one of the most prolific offensive teams (Missouri). As of Tuesday, the Tigers rank third nationally in scoring (88.8 points per game) and fourth in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, averaging 117.6 points per 100 possessions against an average Division I opponent. The Tigers are second across college basketball in effective shooting percentage (58.9%), which gives more weight to 3-pointers when calculating a team’s shooting mark, and second in 2-point shooting percentage (61.3%). Three players in Gates’ rotation are shooting better than 40% from 3-point range, led by Brown, who’s been deadly from the arc at a career-best 45.7%. The senior forward is coming off 31- and 30-point games against Illinois and Kentucky.
“Well, I thought he was a great player offensively,” Musselman said. “I think he’s elevated his game, which you want. … He scored 61 points, when you look at who he scored them against, Illinois and Kentucky, two really good teams, two physical teams, two teams with size. But he can score the ball from 3-point land, he can score the ball off the bounce. They’re running him handling the ball as a pick-and-roll player, which is a new dimension to his game. … He’s a movable piece that you can put in scoring positions in different spots on the court.”
Musselman counters with a defense that ranks No. 5 in adjusted efficiency (87.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) and, like Mizzou, specializes in creating turnovers. Both teams rank in the top 10 nationally in turnover percentage and steal percentage.
