MBB Live Thread: No. 15 Tigers host rivalry-blemished No. 4 Alabama

Nate Oats’ squadron is coming off of a tough home loss to rivals Auburn in the SEC’s first No. 1-No. 2 clash ever, and the Tigers aim to capitalize on their sorrows.

First Half

• Two threes on the first two offensive possessions for the Tigers courtesy of Pierce and Robinson, followed by a great transition pass to Robinson from Perkins who draws a goaltend. Bates makes a beautiful cut to the basket to continue the pain, Pierce does the same to make it a DOMINANT 12-0 RUN AND THIS PLACE IS GOING BERSERK. 12-0 Tigers with 17:32 left and OATS NEEDS A TIMEOUT.
• Sears gets Alabama on the board with a drive, and Nelson follows up with a beautiful finish of his own. Mitchell is given space and is told to shoot it by the crowd, and he obliges and drains the the wide open three. Nelson then follows up with a dunk and-one. Perkins makes a beautiful mid-range shot right over Nelson and then the Tigers turn it over on a possible transition chance due to a miscommunication. 18-7 Mizzou with 15:40 left.
• Sears throws up a prayer on a near shot-clock violation and it goes off the glass and in for two, but Mizzou is playing some of the tightest defense it has played all season. Grill finds his way open and drains a three, HE THEN THROWS A HOME RUN PASS AND IT FINDS BATES FOR THREE OH MY GOODNESS. Holloway hits a three to silence the raucous crowd, and Perkins with a beautiful post up and dump to Gray for the flush. Holloway hits another three, as Alabama is trying to shoot their way out of this heat. 26-15 Mizzou with 13:17 left.
• Holloway hits a crazy shot with less than a second left on the shot clock, but Mark Mitchell takes advantage of the seas parting and gets the flush AND THE FOUL. Robinson hits a wide open three in transition to keep the heat coming, and Grant Nelson with a horrible turnover out of bounds and this place is continuing to rock. 31-17 Mizzou with 11:39 left.
• Grill with a beautiful drive off a Hassan Whiteside esque snag from Anthony Robinson of all people, to keep the pain coming. Anthony Robinson is just a lizard snagging flies (basketballs) all over the place right now, as he almost set up an earth shattering transition play, right after crossing up a Bama defender. But Mizzou’s offense seems to have cooled off giving an opportunity for Alabama to get back into this game, but Pierce finds Mitchell on a beautiful feed for a deuce and then gets a big rebound and draws a foul on Holloway, 35-21 Mizzou with 7:34 left in the half.
• INCREDIBLE PASSING PLAY WITH PERKINS, GRILL BEHIND THE BACK, TO MITCHELL WHO GETS THE DEUCE AND THE FOUL. Man oh man is this team running a clinic against one of the best defenses in the country right now. HE GETS ANOTHER YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING, HIS THIRD OF THE GAME. And third times the charm, as he finally get the free throw to fall. Mitchell then dunks on another Bama player, as he is unhinged right now, he has 14 points already here with five minutes left. Three horrendous 50/50 calls go in Alabama’s favor in a row, but then Caleb Grill with a steal and a dramatic flush after the whistle which no one can hear. Oats is displeased, he gets a technical foul and this crowd is going crazy as there is a review for a flagrant foul on Sears. 42-28 Mizzou with 5:14 left in the first half.
• Flagrant called on Sears, so with the technical foul on Oats they will have four foul shots and the ball. Grill misses the first, then drains the next three. Robinson then drains a beautiful mid-range shot on Mizzou’s possession to make that sequence a +5 for Mizzou. Sears hits another shot for Alabama as the shot-clock expires, this one a three that was left open. 47-31 Mizzou with 4:27 left in the first half.
• Bates draws a blocking foul and hits both free throws, but then Robinson finds Mitchell for another scintillating flush. Mizzou has 11 Assists and three turnovers, while Alabama has five assists and a whopping 10 turnovers. Sears hits a big three, but the deficit is still gargantuan and the Tide are not helping their case by taking their 11th foul of the half. Grill drains both free to become Mizzou’s third player with 10 points in the half. Alabama hits a three but Robinson responds with his 12th point. 55-39 Mizzou with 1:35 left in the half.
• Mitchell picks up a big bucket off of another beautiful drive, but Alabama is doing a good job of doing what they do best which is getting to the line. Perkins drives through a lane and SLAMS IT HOME. And for the 5th time Alabama hits a contested shot as the shot clock buzzer goes. Robinson picks up his third foul though, and that’s been his story as of late as he will sit a lot in the second half. The half will end with Mizzou leading Alabama 59-46, the Tigers most first half points of the season.

Second Half

• Alabama with a big bucket to open the half and an and-one from Nelson and just like that they are only down 10. Mizzou seems to not have their shooting touch they had in the first half, but at the same time Alabama shot 60% themselves so some regression is expected there. Both teams seem to be a lot more intense on the defensive end. Mitchell with another tough bucket but a response in the form of a three is given from the Tide, but a hard foul on Mitchell the other way has prompted a review for another flagrant. 64-54 Mizzou with 17:13 left in the game.
• The review is in and it has been ruled as a flagrant, as the defender bear-hugged Mitchell. Mitchell hits both free throws, and Mizzou will retain the possession for a chance of a huge point swing. However, Mitchell steps out of bounds in his post-up. Mizzou plays hard defense on an in-bound play, forcing a timeout to the chagrin of Nate Oats. Mitchell draws a shooting foul on Nelson, as he continues to just carve up Alabama. 67-55 Mizzou with 15:27 left.
• Grill hits a huge three to get the crowd back into the game, as a missed bucket from Alabama creates a foul on Josh Gray on the other end. Active hands on defense creates another sloppy foul from Alabama, as the Tigers are knocking on the door of the bonus with boat loads of time left in this game. Grill then makes a beautiful move inside and finds the glass to put the lead back to 15. 72-57 Mizzou with 13:34 left in the game.
• Sears hits a deep three to put some gusto into Alabama, but Josh Gray fakes a kick out to Grill and makes a nice move to draw some free throws. and he hits one! Alabama hits a big three in transition to bring the lead down to 10 again, but Mitchell puts himself back at the line again with…you guessed it! Another tough drive. A Bama player stares down Grill after a drive, to which Crews responds with a three. He then hits a beautiful turnaround drive in the paint, but Sears hits a big bucket with the foul, giving Alabama a chance to go down nine. 79-69 Mizzou with 10:28 left.
• Sears drains the charity shot but Crews draws a foul on a rebound to get a 1-and-1 but can’t convert. Sears then hits a huge three to make it a six-point game. 79-73 Mizzou with 9:45 left, and this one is a game folks.
• Pierce gets a big bucket off a second-chance opportunity, bringing the crowd into it. Mitchell gets ANOTHER BUCKET AND A FOUL. UNBELIEVABLE. His 26th point of the game, and he has a free throw for a chance at his 27th. And he hits it. Sears misses a wide-open three uncharacteristically, and Nelson picks up his third foul on the rebound on Grill. And just like that, after a timeout from Gates the Tigers go on a 7-0 run. Grill hits an amazing shot off of an inbound to continue the run, and it is 88-73 Mizzou with 7:46 left and this crowd is going nuts.
• Huge three from Alabama off of a huge crowd pop, Robinson responds with a beautiful step back J. Nelson rolls on the ground and somehow gets no travel called, leading to an alley-oop for Bama but Robinson draws a foul on the ensuing possession. He actually misses both shots, hugely uncharacteristic for him. Mitchell with a gorgeous post move to get himself to 29. but it is short lived as Bama hits a three. Grill does a great job to force an early contest, drawing three shots and Nelson’s fourth foul. Gray blocks Nelson, but the ball finds Sears who is fouled. Grill hits a scintillating step back three, and this crowd is bonkers. 98-83 Mizzou with 4:00 left in the game.
• Tamar Bates runs circles around the Alabama defense before dumping it off to Gray who has two shots and an attempt to get the Tigers to 100. He hits just one, and the Tigers are at 99, with the crowd restless for those three digits to hit the scoreboard. Alabama gets an and-one, with the whole crowd realizing there is a game being played beyond reaching 100 points as well. Mizzou then turns it over against the press, as Alabama still has 3:20 to surmount a 12-point deficit. 99-87 Mizzou.
• Alabama picks up a bucket and a foul, and suddenly have a chance to go down nine. However they miss the free throw, and Pierce draws a foul on Dioubate which will take him out of the game with his 5th foul. Pierce will now have two shots, and can be the one to take this team to 100 in regulation against a Power-conference opponent for the first time since December 2009. He misses both. Mitchell draws a foul, and gets his 30th and the teams 100th point. 101-91 Mizzou with 1:59 left.
• Perkins hits two foul shots, and this one looks to be over. Sears gets his 32nd point on a drive, a performance from him that will go overlooked because of the result of this game. Alabama seemingly turns it over for a game icing turnover, but then Bates loses the ball somehow and then Sears hits another three, and now it is 104-98 Mizzou with 55 seconds left. What are they doing?
• Worry not, Grill finds Bates for a home run ball and then Bates gets a steal and draws a foul and slams it after the not-so-audible whistle anyways. This crowd absolutely erupts as Alabama turns it over again, and the Tigers draw a foul for another two shots! Perkins hits both, and that will ice it as the Tigers have toppled the No. 4 Crimson Tide, as Gates pleads the student section not to rush the court. 110-98 Mizzou is the final score.

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Pregame Updates

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Game Info

Alabama @ Missouri

When | 8:00 p.m. CT

Where | Mizzou Arena; Columbia, Mo.

TV | SEC Network

Radio | Tiger Radio Network // Sirius/XM -119/199

ESPN win probability | 42.5% chance

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5 Fan Questions

1. Will Mizzou pick up more than half the offensive rebounds they had against Georgia (17)?
2. Mark Mitchell is averaging 17 points-per-game in the last three games, against a tough rim protecting team in Alabama, will he hit higher or lower than his average?
3. Alabama is one of the best mid-range teams in the country, which Mizzou player is going to be integral to stopping that efficiency from continuing?
4. The Tide and the Tigers are both in the top three of offensive free-throw rate, who will make and who will attempt more free throws tonight?
5. What is your prediction for tonight’s score?