Missouri Tigers
With less than 6 weeks from us having a bracket in our hands, let us begin to countdown and break down this years March and the madness behind it.
Every day we will look at a different angle of the beauty that is the bracket. From top seeds to bubble teams and every team in between. Which styles of play can be a problem for teams and which teams are on my radar for wearing the glass slipper.
With still 6 weeks to go standings can and will change.
March Madness, Missouri Tigers
- Missouri Tigers
The Missouri Tigers are currently a 7th seed in the Midwest bracket and climbing. Huge wins over the last month where they are 6-1 since January 7th. Wins over Mississippi State and Florida on the road, and home wins over Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU, and Vanderbilt.
Missouri is 17-4 overall with an impressive 6-2 SEC conference record, the best conference in college basketball this season. The Tigers are 4-4 in quad 1 and undefeated against all other quads.
Their defense is ranked 46th in the nation in efficiency only allowing 0.96 points per possession. They are 14th in the nation at creating turnovers on defense, while also being a one of the teams that foul the least.
Their defensive metrics alone are impressive, however it is their offense that gets them ranked 21st in NET rankings.
The offense is 12th in efficiency scoring 1.22 points per possession. They are 3rd in the nation in effective field goal percentage shooting it close to 60%. They put the ball in the net, ranked 1st in the nation at 2 point field goal percentage shooting it 63%.
Third in the nation at getting to the free throw line, although I would like to see them make more foul shots once they get there, 72% as a team.
They are above average at taking care of the ball and shooting it from deep, averaging 37% from behind the arc. Also ranked 33rd in offensive rebounds.
To sum all of this up, Missouri’s offense has no holes. This team can and will get hot and go on runs through out March.
Sets at a Glance
This offense is in one word, beautiful. The Missouri Tigers understand spacing, screening, and have confidence when they shoot it. They utilize the backside down screen to get post players open underneath the basket.
Guards running off of two or three screens at once both on and off ball. At times this offense looks lost and clustered as 4 players will be within arms reach. Trust me, they know what they are doing.
From that action we get switches and the lack there of creating a wide open shooter or cutter and two defensive players chase one player out of the cluster.
If the deep ball is falling for this team, good night and lights out.
Final Thoughts and Projections
This team off of the top is one of my sleeper sweet 16 teams this season. I am confident they end up seeded higher than the 7th seed, however I believe that is the perfect spot for them.
They will take care of any 10 seed with ease in round one, and struggle in round two, yet ultimately upset the 2 seed in their way to the sweet 16.
From there it will be on the outside shooting. We hear it every year, guard play and experience are the difference in March.
That is two things this team has and is elite in, with 3 upperclassman and 0 freshman in the starting lineup. Sweet 16 is the floor for this team, the ceiling is whatever they want it to be. They has proven that they can play with and beat anybody in the nation.
Rowan Donaghey, Sports Reporter and Betting Analyst for Stare Down Sports. You can follow him on X via @RowanDonaghey
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