In Saturday night’s showdown at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, MO, the No. 21 Tigers showed why they are one of the best teams in the country…when playing at home. No. 23 Ole’ Miss (18-5, 7-3) came in, after decimating the, then No. 10, Tigers in January 64-49, with something to prove in the SEC, however, they could not get anything going, shooting just 42 percent from the floor and six for 18 from behind the arc.
Mizzou (17-6, 6-4), on the other hand, developed a 23 point lead at one point during the game, lead by Alex Oriakhi who went into “beast mode,” putting up 22 points and 18 rebounds in route to Mizzou’s 98-79 victory.
Early on, Oriakhi’s temper got the best of him as he pulled down Mississippi forward, Reginald Buckner and found himself a spot on the Missouri bench. After a minute to cool down, head coach Frank Haith, got Oriakhi to regroup and refocus on the task at hand. The senior forward, from the University of Connecticut, then had five rebounds and four points in the next 2:35 off the bench.
Point guard, Phil Pressey, passed Anthony Peeler as Missouri’s all-time assist leader with 499 in only his third year of play. Pressey ended the game with four assists and 22 points.
Once again, every Missouri starter, besides Lawrence Bowers, scored in double digits and never gave up a lead of more than three points. The Tigers put up 50 points in the first half, a season best, and had a 16-point lead going into halftime. Missouri scored 42 points in the paint Saturday, tied for its most paint points in any SEC game this season. The Tigers are now 13-1 when they score more than 30 points in the paint.
Frustrations from Ole’ Miss began to show with around 7 ½ minutes left, when Buckner was tripped by Oriakhi and came up swinging. Buckner was ejected and Oriakhi was called for a flagrant foul, as well technicals called on Jabari Brown and Lawernce Bowers from Missouri and Murphy Holloway from Mississippi for their roles in the altercation.
The Tigers will try to revamp their road game against dreary Mississippi State (7-15, 2-8) team Wednesday night at 7 pm and should go in as the favorite to win, however, they are still winless on the road and have yet to prove that they have what it takes to get over that bump in the road.
Shu in the Lou 