SB Nation Kansas City - Laurence Bowers, Kim English Lead Mizzou Past Baylor, 77-59https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48935/kc-fave.png2011-02-24T09:15:52-06:00http://kansascity.sbnation.com/rss/stream/17731422011-02-24T09:15:52-06:002011-02-24T09:15:52-06:00Mizzou Basketball Is Flawed But Stills Controls Baylor
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<p>Following the Missouri Tigers' <a href="http://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/23/2009101/baylor-presents-test-for-mizzous-perimeter-defense">77-59 victory over Baylor on Wednesday night</a>, Mizzou head coach Mike Anderson said it was one of the most complete games they've played in the last few weeks. While that's the case, not everything was perfect. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2011/2/24/2008322/study-hall-baylor#storyjump">As Bill Connelly of SB Nation's Rock M Nation explains</a>, things could have been much worse for Baylor.</p>
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<p>Phil Pressey, Mike Dixon and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123929/matt-pressey">Matt Pressey</a> combined for eight points on 2-for-15 shooting and six turnovers. And Missouri won by 18. Mizzou's identity destroyed Baylor's, but when all was said and done, outside of Bowers and Ratliffe, Mizzou really didn't even play very well. Scary.</p>
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<p>Scary indeed.</p>
<p>What's also scary is that Mizzou outrebounded one of the better rebounding teams in the conference. Here's a good stat from Connelly: Ricardo Ratliffe and Laurence Bowers combined for 22 rebounds in 54 minutes while Baylor's Perry Jones III and Quincy Acy combined for 19 rebounds in 61 minutes. That's not Mizzou's strength but, on Wednesday night, it was.</p>
<p>I'd encourage you to <a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2011/2/24/2008322/study-hall-baylor#storyjump">check out the full recap at Rock M Nation</a>.</p>
https://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/24/2012367/mizzou-basketball-baylorJoel Thorman2011-02-23T23:53:11-06:002011-02-23T23:53:11-06:00Mizzou Basketball Has 'One Of Our More Complete Games' Against Baylor
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<p>The Missouri Tigers took control of Wednesday night's game against Baylor early on securing a 33-20 first-half lead and maintaining that momentum into the second half. The final score: Mizzou 77, Baylor 59.</p>
<p>Missouri played well in a lot of areas that they had to in order to win this game. It hit its shots early, especially Ricardo Ratliffe, who nearly had a double-double in the first half. They slowed LaceDarius Dunn, who was shutout in the first half and ended with 12 points. They finished with the rebounding edge. There were <a href="http://www.mutigers.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/022411aac.html">a lot of things that went right</a>.</p>
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"I told our guys I thought that was one of our more complete games here in the last 8 to 10 games, and I want to attribute that to our team," head coach Mike Anderson said. "I think our defense was the big difference of the game - they were very active. First half alone I think we had 18 deflections and then we were coming up with some loose balls early on and we were able to get up on Baylor's team. But then again that's our defense."</p>
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<p>Eighteen points ties the largest victory Mizzou has had over Baylor since the Big 12 was formed so I'd call that a complete game. It's like the Tigers pinpointed specifically what they had to do and went out and did it. Obviously the key is doing this every game.</p>
<p>Check out more on Mizzou at <a href="http://www.rockmnation.com" target="_blank">Rock M Nation</a>.</p>
https://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/23/2011903/mizzou-basketball-baylor-scoreJoel Thorman2011-02-23T22:14:50-06:002011-02-23T22:14:50-06:00Laurence Bowers, Kim English Lead Mizzou Past Baylor, 77-59
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<p>The Missouri Tigers were <a href="http://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/23/2010802/mizzou-basketball-favorite-baylor">eight point favorites against Baylor on Wednesday night </a>and they outdid the oddsmakers beating the Bears, 77-59. Mizzou moves to 22-6 on the season and 8-5 in the Big 12 while Baylor falls to 17-10 on the year and 6-7 in the conference.</p>
<p>Mizzou was lead by three efficient performances from Laurence Bowers, Kim English and Ricardo Ratliffe. Bowers lead all scorers with 20 points -- 18 in the second half -- on 8-of-13 shooting and nine boards. English added 16 points hitting on 4-of-6 three-point attempts. Ratcliffe nearly had a double-double in the first half and ended up hitting 5-of--7 shots and had 13 boards.</p>
<p>Mizzou's defense created 21 turnovers including six steals from Bowers, twice as many as he's had in any game this season.</p>
<p>One of the keys heading into the game was containing Baylor on the boards and that's what the Tigers did actually winning the rebounding battle, 34-32. As Bill Connelly of Rock M Nation, the Tigers have <a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2011/2/22/2004199/know-your-unpredictable-rival-baylor">actually held their own</a> against the top three rebounding teams in the conference. </p>
<p>For Baylor, LaceDarius Dunn and Perry Jones combined for 25 points on 10-of-28 shooting </p>
<p>Moving forward, the schedule doesn't get any easier for Mizzou. They go on the road to Kansas State, and then to Nebraska, before finishing up against Kansas.</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/">Rock M Nation</a> to see what Mizzou fans are saying about the game. </p>
https://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/23/2011738/laurence-bowers-kim-english-mizzou-baylorJoel Thorman2011-02-23T14:44:59-06:002011-02-23T14:44:59-06:00Mizzou Basketball An Eight-Point Favorite Over Baylor
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<p>The Missouri Tigers will <a href="http://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/23/2009101/baylor-presents-test-for-mizzous-perimeter-defense">return home to face Baylor on Wednesday night</a> after a weekend road trip to Iowa State. Mizzou has put together three consecutive wins over Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Iowa State and, if you believe the college basketball odds, they'll make it four in a row against Baylor.</p>
<p>The Tigers are an eight-point favorite and, if momentum means anything, they've got that advantage, too, as Baylow has lost two of their last three.</p>
<p>Bill Connelly of SB Nation's Rock M Nation predicts that, despite Baylor's rebounding advantage, <a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2011/2/22/2004199/know-your-unpredictable-rival-baylor">Mizzou will come out on top</a>.</p>
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Just like there is danger in taking on the crazy guy in a fight, there is fear in playing Baylor. At any moment, the Bears could wake up and remind everybody why they were so highly-touted in the pre-season. That said, the odds are in Missouri's favor -- in fact, I'll go ahead and predict <b>a 75-65 Missouri victory</b>. Survive this one, and you give yourself a puncher's chance at third in the conference. Slip up -- or just get swarmed by an angry, poked bear -- and it could still be a struggle to get to 8-8 in conference. Big game. </p>
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<p>Big game indeed. In fact, it's the first of four consecutive big games to end the season. After Baylor, the Tigers will go on the road to Kansas State and Nebraska before coming back home to host Kansas.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2011/2/22/2004199/know-your-unpredictable-rival-baylor">Check out the full Baylor preview at Rock M Nation.</a></p>
https://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/2/23/2010802/mizzou-basketball-favorite-baylorJoel Thorman2011-02-23T07:19:34-06:002011-02-23T07:19:34-06:00Baylor Presents Test For Mizzou's Perimeter Defense
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<p>As the season has progressed, Missouri's perimeter defense (one of its primary calling cards not so long ago) has left a lot to be desired. Theories abound as to why, among them:</p>
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<li>Missouri's current group of players doesn't pride itself on defense the way previous groups did.</li>
<li>Missouri's strategic decision to always switch on screens leaves certain defenders ill equipped to contest perimeter shots.<br>
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<li>Missouri is too aggressive going for steals rather than staying in proper position to simply defend the shot.</li>
<li>Missouri's perimeter defenders are too small to get hands on balls bigger defenders might have deflected.</li>
<li>Somehow, it's Stefhon Hannah's fault.</li>
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<p>There's at least a modicum of truth to each of those theories (well, maybe not the last one). And though Baylor isn't as respected or feared as the free-shooting offensive forces of its recent past, the Bears represent the type of threat that could continue proving the theories disturbingly correct.</p>
<p>The primary threat comes in the form of <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/25857/lacedarius-dunn" class="sbn-auto-link">LaceDarius Dunn</a>, whose deadliness as a spot shooter is a major point of concern heading into Wednesday night. Furthermore, the quick release afforded to him by his nearly non-existent vertical during his jump shots minimizes any margin for error Mizzou's defenders may have had.</p>
<p>So even though Perry Jones is a one-man matchup problem in the paint, it's Dunn and his unique brand of isolation that could put Missouri on alert. Rock M Nation's Bill Connelly touched on the curious case of LaceDarius in his <a href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2011/2/22/2004199/know-your-unpredictable-rival-baylor" target="_blank">Baylor preview</a>:</p>
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<p>LaceDarius Dunn is the best and worst thing Baylor's got going. He's one of the most high-usage players in the country, and he takes 33.1% of his team's shots (26th most in the country), but while his efficiency numbers are solid, they're not that good. When you've got <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123221/perry-jones-iii" class="sbn-auto-link">Perry Jones III</a> on your side, you probably don't need somebody else eating up one-third of your possessions.</p>
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<p>So what is the best way to defend Dunn? For the Tigers, it might be doing what they do best, especially at home: Keeping the ball out of his hands by forcing turnovers. Again, I defer to Connelly, who had this to say regarding Baylor's weaknesses:</p>
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<p>[T]hey can't hold onto the ball. They are the second-worst major-conference team in the country in terms of both Off. TO% and Off. Steal% (only South Florida is worse). Their point guard situation is a debacle. They rank 286th in terms of Off. A/FGM, meaning all of their points come off of one-on-one situations or putbacks. They rank 332nd in Pomeroy's Bench Minutes measure and 238th in Experience. In other words, their stats suggest they are potentially the least-equipped team in the conference when it comes to handling a swarming Mizzou team at Mizzou Arena.</p>
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