The Missouri Tigers went on the road to Lincoln on Tuesday night and walked away with a 69-58 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The loss is disappointing, to say the least, mostly because of the timing. It's late in the season when Mizzou is supposed to be playing their best ball and they put up a dud like this one.
Mizzou beat Nebraska 77-69 on January 12. What was the difference in the two games (besides the obvious -- Mizzou was at home last time and can't win on the road)?
Free throws: I can't get over this -- Mizzou didn't attempt a free throw until about four and a half minutes remaining int he game. That's incredible. They hit two free throws on Tuesday night and 21 free throws in January. Mizzou outscored Nebraska on free throws back then by eight points and the Huskers returned the favor by a margin of 12 points at the free throw line this time around.
Turnovers: Mizzou turned it over nine times the last time these two teams played and then 17 times on Tuesday night. After the game, head coach Mike Anderson said: "We value the basketball. We want to disrupt it, and create tempo, but we want to value the basketball. Our two point guards had seven turnovers between them. You can't do that on the road and expect to win."
Rebounds: Mizzou actually out-rebounded Nebraska the last time they played, 34-30. This time around, though, Nebraska dominated them on the boards, 32-18.