Eight weeks separated Missouri?s Southeastern Conference opener and its latest conference game, but Frank Haith?s postgame diagnosis of his team sounded much the same after both.Back on Jan. 8, Missouri led Georgia by five in overtime at Mizzou Arena but self-destructed down the stretch and lost 70-64, after which Haith said his team was too cool heading into its first league game.
?Cool gets you beat,? he said.
On Saturday, it was a cool indifference to playing defense that cost Missouri at Alabama, where a Crimson Tide team with little at stake hustled the visiting Tigers 80-73 and roasted Haith?s team for 57 percent shooting. Backup guard Levi Randolph, averaging six points a game before tip-off, terrorized the Tigers for a career-high 33 points, the highest scoring game by a Mizzou opponent since Texas? J?Covan Brown scored 34 on Jan. 14, 2012.
Given two days to digest Mizzou?s defensive undoing, Haith offered little explanation.
?We didn?t have a sense of urgency about ourselves,? he said during a brief meeting with reporters Monday before the Tigers (19-8, 7-7 SEC) left for tonight?s game at Georgia on ESPNU. ?I didn?t see it coming because I thought the practices were really good. There?s no question we?ve got to play harder.?
Asked how Missouri can fix those defensive problems, Haith stuck to his message.
?Play harder,? he said.
How exactly do the Tigers get that done?
?We?ve got to play harder,? he said. ?We didn?t defend. We didn?t do the things we?ve coached them to do. But maybe we?ve got to coach them harder to do it.?
That includes Jabari Brown, Mizzou?s conference player of the year candidate. He scored 23 points at Alabama to maintain his lead as the league?s top scorer in conference games (21.9), but Haith called out his junior guards, Brown and Jordan Clarkson, for their defensive struggles against the Crimson Tide.
?You?ve got to look yourself in the mirror first,? Brown said, ?and then talk to each other and get on each other about it and be able to hold each other accountable.?
?We have to recommit ourselves to that end of the floor,? he added.
With only four games left before the SEC tournament in Atlanta, the Tigers are running out of chances to solve those problems, much less pad their postseason r?sum?. With Saturday?s loss, Mizzou dropped from No. 37 to 45 in the NCAA?s latest Ratings Percentage Index standings, good enough to squeeze into the projected NCAA Tournament projections by ESPN.com and CBSSports.com, both of which have the Tigers as the No. 11 seed in the South Regional playing No. 6 seed Texas.
But to get there Missouri will have to close the regular season with a strong finish, perhaps with an unbeaten run to Atlanta. The Tigers are part of a seven-team tie for fourth place in the conference, two games behind the surprise of the SEC, third-place Georgia (15-11, 9-5).
The last time these teams met, Missouri was ranked No. 21 in both major polls after a 12-1 romp through nonconference play. Coach Mark Fox?s Bulldogs were crawling out of a 6-6 quagmire of a nonconference season.
But the teams launched themselves on opposite trajectories in the conference opener. Georgia, still toiling to replace 2012-13 SEC player of the year Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, an NBA lottery pick by the Pistons, began to lean on its rugged half-court defense and prowess on the glass. Beating the Tigers on their home floor gave the Bulldogs confidence, Fox said.
?Obviously to open up league play with a win and a road win versus a terrific team was critical for us,? he said.
The Bulldogs, limited in prolific shooters, figured their best way to generate offense came at the free throw line. Georgia, the SEC?s worst shooting team in conference play (40.0 percent), scores 27.2 percent of its points at the foul line, the highest mark in the SEC and 12th among all Division I teams. Seven players have taken at least 45 free throws, led by sophomore guard Charles Man (211 attempts) and sophomore forward Brandon Morris (109). On the other end of the floor, Georgia counters with the SEC?s best field goal percentage defense (39.0) in league play.
Against a team that relies on trips to the foul line, Missouri better expect physical play inside ? and can?t afford another night of defensive breakdowns.
?You?ve just got to scrap,? Haith said. ?You still have to be physical and play with energy. You?ve got to do your work early, set up your defense. Transition defense is a must. You can?t give them live-ball turnovers that they convert to easy buckets.?
?Cool gets you beat,? he said.
On Saturday, it was a cool indifference to playing defense that cost Missouri at Alabama, where a Crimson Tide team with little at stake hustled the visiting Tigers 80-73 and roasted Haith?s team for 57 percent shooting. Backup guard Levi Randolph, averaging six points a game before tip-off, terrorized the Tigers for a career-high 33 points, the highest scoring game by a Mizzou opponent since Texas? J?Covan Brown scored 34 on Jan. 14, 2012.
Given two days to digest Mizzou?s defensive undoing, Haith offered little explanation.
?We didn?t have a sense of urgency about ourselves,? he said during a brief meeting with reporters Monday before the Tigers (19-8, 7-7 SEC) left for tonight?s game at Georgia on ESPNU. ?I didn?t see it coming because I thought the practices were really good. There?s no question we?ve got to play harder.?
Asked how Missouri can fix those defensive problems, Haith stuck to his message.
?Play harder,? he said.
How exactly do the Tigers get that done?
?We?ve got to play harder,? he said. ?We didn?t defend. We didn?t do the things we?ve coached them to do. But maybe we?ve got to coach them harder to do it.?
That includes Jabari Brown, Mizzou?s conference player of the year candidate. He scored 23 points at Alabama to maintain his lead as the league?s top scorer in conference games (21.9), but Haith called out his junior guards, Brown and Jordan Clarkson, for their defensive struggles against the Crimson Tide.
?You?ve got to look yourself in the mirror first,? Brown said, ?and then talk to each other and get on each other about it and be able to hold each other accountable.?
?We have to recommit ourselves to that end of the floor,? he added.
With only four games left before the SEC tournament in Atlanta, the Tigers are running out of chances to solve those problems, much less pad their postseason r?sum?. With Saturday?s loss, Mizzou dropped from No. 37 to 45 in the NCAA?s latest Ratings Percentage Index standings, good enough to squeeze into the projected NCAA Tournament projections by ESPN.com and CBSSports.com, both of which have the Tigers as the No. 11 seed in the South Regional playing No. 6 seed Texas.
But to get there Missouri will have to close the regular season with a strong finish, perhaps with an unbeaten run to Atlanta. The Tigers are part of a seven-team tie for fourth place in the conference, two games behind the surprise of the SEC, third-place Georgia (15-11, 9-5).
The last time these teams met, Missouri was ranked No. 21 in both major polls after a 12-1 romp through nonconference play. Coach Mark Fox?s Bulldogs were crawling out of a 6-6 quagmire of a nonconference season.
But the teams launched themselves on opposite trajectories in the conference opener. Georgia, still toiling to replace 2012-13 SEC player of the year Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, an NBA lottery pick by the Pistons, began to lean on its rugged half-court defense and prowess on the glass. Beating the Tigers on their home floor gave the Bulldogs confidence, Fox said.
?Obviously to open up league play with a win and a road win versus a terrific team was critical for us,? he said.
The Bulldogs, limited in prolific shooters, figured their best way to generate offense came at the free throw line. Georgia, the SEC?s worst shooting team in conference play (40.0 percent), scores 27.2 percent of its points at the foul line, the highest mark in the SEC and 12th among all Division I teams. Seven players have taken at least 45 free throws, led by sophomore guard Charles Man (211 attempts) and sophomore forward Brandon Morris (109). On the other end of the floor, Georgia counters with the SEC?s best field goal percentage defense (39.0) in league play.
Against a team that relies on trips to the foul line, Missouri better expect physical play inside ? and can?t afford another night of defensive breakdowns.
?You?ve just got to scrap,? Haith said. ?You still have to be physical and play with energy. You?ve got to do your work early, set up your defense. Transition defense is a must. You can?t give them live-ball turnovers that they convert to easy buckets.?
