Mizzou-West Virginia Postgame Notes
3/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2010
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Mizzou Basketball
NCAA Second Round vs. West Virginia
Buffalo, N.Y. - 3/21/10
Postgame Notes
First Half Notes
- The Mountaineers scored the first eight points of the game - six of which came on a pair 3-point baskets - until a 3-pointer from Kim English put the Tigers on the scoreboard at the 17:50 mark in the first half. That sparked an 8-3 run that pulled Mizzou within three at 11-8.
- West Virginia did not commit a turnover until the 15:19 mark when Keith Ramsey forced a jump ball after a trap in full court press. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they did not convert that miscue into points. The Mountaineers turned the ball over just three times in the first half.
- Mizzou assisted on four of its first six field goals in the game as it opened shooting 6-11 from the field. Mizzou finished the half with eight assists on 10 made field goals. What was even more impressive is that seven different Tigers dished at least one assist in the first half. Steve Moore led the way with two in the first half, matching his career-best.
- Moore also finished the half with three blocked shots - just two off of his career-best in a game - as he helped Mizzou tally six blocks in the half, a season-high in a single half. Bowers added the other three swats, which moved him into seventh place on the single-season blocked shots list at Mizzou with 47 this season.
- Moore gave the Tigers some quality minutes in the first half, registering back-to-back blocks and drawing a pivotal charge, all with the score tied at 25.
- Da'Sean Butler scored 12 of West Virginia's first 23 points, all 12 on 3-point shots as he connected on four of his first seven attempts from distance. Butler was the reason that WVU was able to take a lead into the locker room at halftime, scoring 19 points in the half, two more than his season average per game.
- Mizzou went on an 8-2 run to knot the score at 25, but West Virginia went to the free throw line three times (hitting five of six) in the last 2 minutes of the half to regain at 30-25 advantage. After knotting the score at 25, Mizzou's offense went stagnant, missing its last six shots of the half and committing two turnovers in that span.
- Mizzou, who came into the game being viewed as undersized, won the battle in the paint in the first half outscoring the Mountaineers 10-8 and barely lost the rebounding battle at 19-18.
- The difference in the first half proved to be free throws as WVU connected on 8-10 from the charity stripe. Conversely, Mizzou made just one trip to the line, doing so early in the half when J.T. Tiller connected on one of his two shots. West Virginia was whistled for only four fouls in the half.
Second Half Notes
- Mizzou opened the second half connecting on just two of its first 11 shots until Zaire Taylor connected on a 3-point shot just following the first media timeout.
- After scoring 19 points in the first half, Mizzou kept Da'Sean Butler off the scoreboard for the first 8:32 of the second half until he sank three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot by Mizzou's Michael Dixon. Those three free throws gave WVU its largest lead of the game at the time at 50-41.
- After being whistled for just four fouls in the first half, West Virginia committed 12 in the second half.
- Mizzou shot just 10-35 in the second half (28.6-percent), proving to be the difference in the game. That was down from a 38.5-percent clip in the first half.
- Mizzou was outscored in the paint, 12-6, in the second half.
Postgame Notes
- The loss gives Mizzou a 4-2 record in the NCAA Tournament games over the last two seasons. Mizzou also falls to 1-1 overall vs. No. 2 seeds over the last two years. Mizzou beat second-seeded Memphis to advance to the Elite Eight last season.
- True freshman Michael Dixon finished the game with 15 total points, just one off of his career-best, which was set in the Tigers' win over Illinois back in December.
- Mizzou once again had another game in the NCAA Tournament in which it distributed the ball well and kept its turnovers down. In fact, Mizzou finished with 13 assists and only seven turnovers on the game. Overall in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Mizzou finished with an assist to turnover ration of 34:16, better than 2:1.
- In fact, over the last six NCAA Tournament games, Mizzou boasts 105 assists and only 45 turnovers.
- J.T. Tiller led the Tigers with four assists in the game, giving him nine over the Tigers' two NCAA Tournament games. He also committed just three turnovers in the two games and ripped seven steals. He also finished the two games with 23 total points, highlighted by 13 today.
- Mizzou struggled to force WVU into turnovers as it committed just 10 in the game, eight of which came in the second half. Those turnovers only led to six points for the Tigers. However, Mizzou did win the battle of second-chance points with 19 while limiting WVU to only 11.
- Mizzou blocked eight shots in the game, one shy of a season-best in 2010. Four of those came from Laurence Bowers, who finishes the season with 48 total blocks. Those 48 swats are tied for the sixth-best single season mark in Mizzou history.
- Mizzou finishes the season with 23 wins, giving it 54 wins over the last two seasons, the second-best total over a two-year span in program history. Mizzou is also one of only 12 schools in the nation to have posted at least 51 wins over the last two seasons as well.
- Zaire Taylor finished the game with two steals, giving him 63 on the season. That mark ties him with Anthony Peeler for the seventh-best single season mark in school history.
- Da'Sean Butler finished the game with 28 points as he shot 4-9 from distance and connected on 12-13 free throws. His point total combined to match the Tigers' top two scorers on the day.
