Nashville, Tenn. , nick honor He just takes what the defense gives him. Sometimes, it’s a clear path to the basket and a looping layup. Sometimes, it’s nothing. And sometimes it propels a 3-pointer from the halfcourt logo.
The latter was the case in No. 4 seed Mizzou’s game against No. 5 seed Tennessee in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup in the SEC Tournament. With the score tied at 69-69 with just over two minutes remaining in the second half, the senior forward kobe brown Set up a screen for Honore, who was up the left wing, guarded by the Tennessee sophomore guard Jahmai Mashak, Honore took a dribble to his right and Mashek elected to go under Brown’s pick.
With no guards around, the graduate senior point guard rose to take a 25-foot triple. The shot fell behind the rim, pushing the Tigers ahead by three. The team held in the final 1:45, never trailed again, and held on for a 79–71 victory over the Volunteers.
“When he shot it, I knew it was going in,” said the senior guard. deandre gholston, who watched the play from the sidelines. “(senior guard) Trey Gomillion asked me ‘Is this a bucket?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ before he shot.
head coach dennis gates It was said that Honor had asked for the ball screen. Not everyone on the roster has the green light to take that shot from that distance. respects because it is something he has put in the time to get right. At 5-foot-10, Honor needs good space to make shots over tall defenders. He’s got the most space when he’s three or four feet above the arc.
Honor said he worked with associate head coach on accurate shots Charlton “Cy” Young and graduate assistant coaches phil pressey, When he launched it against Tennessee on Friday, he said it was just like practice.
“If it sounds good, it sounds good,” Honor said. “Coach Gates says a lot that I don’t shoot enough. So of course the ones that feel good, I have to take them. So it felt good.
It still took guts to shoot without hesitation. He did not have a perfect game, missing two of his 3s – one from the same range as his go-ahead bucket – and also committed two turnovers.
But the Clemson transfer is in his fifth year of collegiate basketball — Friday was his 121st career game. He’s been through more battles than he can count and knows how to come out on the other side. The weathering of his veins has now become second nature to him. Huddling on the court with your teammates helps, too.
Honor said, “It’s not like anyone in that circle.” “There’s a lot of outside noise — our fans are outside noise too. So just being in those rumbles with the five of us, it can get back to somebody, you know, being positive and not worrying about playing the former. So they definitely help.”
Brown said that as the game went from wire to wire, it felt like the team was taking its intensity up a notch. Gates credited his team’s ability to “not blink” as the game got tighter.
Immediately following the honor tray, the Missouri senior guard d’moi hodge Volunteers tipped incoming pass from Tennessee senior guard Tyreke’s, making it out of bounds. Although the call on the floor was originally that the ball went outside Hodge, the Cleveland State transfer stated that he did not know for sure and asked the officials to review the play. With less than two minutes on the clock, the referees went to the monitors and overturned the call, seeing in replays that the ball went through Key’s hand.
After the officials reviewed the play, the Tigers found Hodge on the left wing, who made another 3-pointer to make it a two-score game. Key made a layup on the other end, but the Browns matched it with the next possession to stay in front 77–71.
The Volunteers (19-13, 11-7) could not drop any of their last two shots and suffered the loss of elimination. With the win, Missouri advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the first time since joining the SEC in 2012.
Honor finished the game with eight points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Gates is happy that he put his trust in the captain of his team.
Gates said, “I’m so proud of our Mizzou fans that they came in and obviously made some noise and gave us the energy we needed to overcome a tough environment, but also a tough game.” “Sometimes you don’t listen to your players. I listen to mine We gave him a ball screen, and he was able to knock down a big-time three-point shot.
“The same shot of Nick Honor that I see every day,” Gholston said.
Brown leads Gholston Tigers inside the arc
The last time Mizzou went up against Tennessee, the team shot a season-high 53.8% from deep. The Volunteers are the better defense though – all their other opponents combined have shot just 25.1% from the 3-point line this year. They looked like a stone wall in the first half of their rematch with the Tigers, holding them to 3-14 from outside.
To keep the offense from stumbling, Missouri needed scoring punch from the interior. Brown and Gholston provided a 1-2 combination, with Brown feasting in the post and Gholston finding his touch from mid-range. The pair went 6–7 on two-pointers, keeping the Tigers afloat and one step behind Tennessee, going down 33–30 at the half.
“When we shoot too many 3s, it’s up to me and Kobe to organize us and get to the rim,” Gholston said. “So you know, I started, I got some layups, some mid-rangers. Then Kobe finished, like I said. That helped us and carried us.
When the team returned for the second half, they found easy looks around the perimeter. MU went 7-12 on 3-pointers in the second half – Hodge himself was 3-5.
Hodge led the team in scoring with 26 points, followed by Brown with 24 and Gholston with 10. Brown said his ability to make adjustments to keep scoring against one of the top defenses in the country helped him come out on top .
Brown said, “They have a lot of freak athletes, a lot of muscle down low, a lot of skill guards who cover the ball.” “The biggest thing is they’re a top three defense or whatever. So we tried not to allow them to set up defense and that was our big change. We dropped them on the floor and they couldn’t set up their great defense. can do.
overcoming foul count
In Mizzou’s first game against Tennessee, the team was whistled for 24 fouls, 17 of which came in the second half. The second game played out in much the same way, as the Tigers were called for five fouls in the first media timeout of the second half. This helped the Volunteers go on a 5–0 run and take their biggest lead of the game at 38–30.
Gates said the timeout came at the right time, though.
“I needed that timeout,” Gates said. “I said, ‘Stop fouling. Guys, do you want them to beat us at the free-throw line or beat us in the halfcourt and play hard basketball?’ We didn’t just want to give them easy shots and baskets.”
The team was called for just four fouls the rest of the afternoon.
Gomilian out with injury
Trey Gomillion was ejected just minutes before the end of Friday’s game, with the team saying his status is “day-to-day.” Gomilian had missed seven games earlier this year with a groin injury.
next
Missouri (24-8, 11-7 SEC) plays in the SEC semifinals for the first time in program history, taking on No. 1 seed Alabama (27-5, 16-2) on Saturday at noon CT.
To make a run this deep isn’t lost on any of the Tigers, especially Brown, who has been with the team for four years.
“It’s huge. It’s huge,” Brown said. “We talk about it all the time. This is big for us. We just come in and do what we do. Just a bunch of boys who like to play together. We stay connected It’s showing every day in practice and games. I’m glad we made it here and hope we can finish this.
January 21, 85-64 at Columbia, Mo. In their first meeting, the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers. But Brown did not play in that game, the only game he missed all season, due to an ankle injury. He is eager to get a crack at what Gates refers to as “the No. 1 team in the country.”
“They’re really good, they can shoot the ball, they’re tall, they’re athletic. There’s a reason they’re the top team in the conference,” Brown said. “I was front row, front and center watching the game when they came at us. Our team played with them for a while and then, you know what, what happened. But it should be fun tomorrow, I’m looking forward to it.”
Gates said Friday would be a sleepless day for him as he prepares for tomorrow’s game.
Gates said, “I’ll probably watch every game they’ve played since the last game, dial in all the notes I have.”
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