Mark Mitchell had a performance for the ages against Alabama

After averaging 17 points in his previous three games, the Duke transfer had more than that in just the first half against the No. 4 team in the country.

The Missouri Tigers put on an offensive clinic against the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday night, emerging victorious with a score of 110-98. Mark Mitchell’s career-high of 31 points had a huge factor in that, and it was his willingness to attack some of the toughest rim protectors in the country that allowed him to put up those numbers.

Dennis Gates has praised Mitchell’s coachability and more precisely the way he “takes criticism on the chin,” and it’s that aspect of Mark that allows him to continue to grow as the season goes on. The things he did in this game and the traits he displayed were just shown in glimpses early on in the season, but the last four games it has culminated into dominant performances.

“Mark has gotten back to his old self, the versatile McDonald’s All-American leader,” Gates said. “He allowed me and our staff to push him, because he leans on other people first he’s very unselfish.”

Mitchell drew eight fouls and took none in his performance yesterday, totaling him to 19 fouls drawn in his last two home games. He also has 56 points combined in that span, with 53 of those points coming in the paint or from the line. Mitchell’s performance against Alabama was so stellar that legendary hoops analyst Seth Davis had to acknowledge:

Mark’s ability to not only draw fouls at a monster rate but also do that without taking fouls the other end is because of the way he sees the game. Gates believes that his intelligence doesn’t just impact his own game, but his teammates.

“People need to understand [Mark] has a very high basketball IQ,” Gates said. “When you have [that] you can pour into other people, you’re able to continue to give the right passes on time and advance the ball.”

This play is a great example of Mitchell’s intensity, because he actually found himself under the basket but he utilized his size and strength to manhandle just as big of a man. However, more importantly he stayed in control with the contact and that’s why he was able to rack up buckets with the foul all night. Mitchell had four baskets with fouls drawn in the game, the highest amount anyone on the team has garnered in a single game all season.

“I got some easy ones early to get me going,” Mitchell said. “I just adjusted to the way teams are playing, and once you get going it opens it up and you have a feeling you can get anything you want.”

This play just shows Mitchell’s patience at the basket, the majority of bigs in the country would just go up strong and take the contact to get to the line but Mitchell caresses the ball off the pass and cuts inside to lose one defender. He then fakes a shot to lose two defenders and generate contact and has a beautiful finish off the glass to get the shot with the foul. The composure he showed there, is not easy and it all comes from his intuition.

“It’s just about playing with my instincts,” Mitchell said. “Something coach caught on to me for sometimes in the first half of the season was just thinking too much, so I’ve been trying to not do that lately and it’s been working.”

Mitchell was mostly guarded by Grant Nelson throughout the night, and that is significant since Nelson is one of the rarer breeds like Mitchell that possesses size, speed, and versatility. Nelson is Alabama’s top player in terms of defensive efficiency and Mitchell made sure that no one would be able to tell that tonight. In fact, the 31 points for Mitchell is the most any front court player has scored on Alabama since Dec. 9, 2023 when Zach Edey torched the Tide for 35 points.

Edey’s Purdue team went on to the National Championship Game, Edey also won his second-straight John Wooden Award for most outstanding player becoming the only player other than Ralph Sampson to do so, and oh yeah he also got drafted ninth overall in the draft. That’s the category Mark Mitchell is in when it comes to scoring at this rate against Alabama; it just doesn’t happen. Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats was noticeably exhausted from Mitchell and Mizzou’s performance in his postgame presser:

“Not one of our better defensive games but give them a bunch of credit,” Oats said. “It is my job as a head coach to prepare this team and my team wasn’t prepared tonight.”

Mitchell’s ability to attack the entire game and play minutes consistently, while also being versatile enough to defend all positions is vital to Mizzou’s success. It also makes him a top candidate for the next-level and you would be hard pressed to say he isn’t a lottery pick in the NBA draft after the kind of performance he just had.