In a Rebuilding Season, Arkansas Game Offers Opportunity

This is looking like a long season for the Missouri basketball team, but we knew that could likely be the case heading in. First-year coach Kim Anderson stepped into a tough rebuilding situation. This team has already made progress from November, but there is still a long way to go, and the Tigers won’t get there this season. Most Missouri fans understand and accept this.

Still, this season is still going to be a grind. Missouri was annihilated last Tuesday at No. 1 Kentucky, 86-37. Then last Saturday Missouri (7-10, 1-3 in SEC play through Sunday) lost an ugly game to Tennessee, 59-51. If you like potato-sack races in knee-deep mud, this was a game for you, with 25 total turnovers and both teams shooting under 40 percent for the game.

Still, a crowd of over 10,000 watched the proceedings, the largest crowd at Mizzou Arena this season, and the Tigers kept battling until the end. A late flurry of three-pointers kept the Tigers in the game down the stretch, and almost was enough. Tennessee (11-5, 3-1 in SEC) is no juggernaut, but the Volunteers made 18 of 20 free throws, and that was the difference.

Missouri got 13 points and three three-pointers from Namon Wright, but it was a pretty uninspiring offensive effort.

However, there are plenty of winnable games in the SEC, and even this Missouri team will probably have some nice moments over a long season.

The Tigers have a chance for one on Saturday as old “friend” Mike Anderson brings his Arkansas Razorbacks (13-4, 2-2) to Columbia (1 p.m. on ESPN2). Anderson coached Missouri for five seasons, highlighted by a 2009 Elite Eight run. Anderson rebuilt Missouri from the Quin Snyder meltdown, but he left for Arkansas and didn’t round up a great recruiting class on his way out the door. I don’t really blame him for going to Arkansas; he was a longtime assistant there on some great teams, including a national champion. Nevertheless, he’ll probably receive plenty of boos on Saturday.

That’s probably not a bad thing. The Missouri fans who haven’t checked out on this team deserve a reason to get excited. This Kim Anderson rebuild is a slow, sometimes painful process, and couple that with playing in the SEC, where Missouri lacks basketball rivalries, and the Tigers need a game they can circle on the calendar. Arkansas is becoming that game.

Usually, Mike Anderson’s teams are incredibly hard to beat on their home court, but pretty manageable on the road. However, Arkansas has already won a road conference game and lost a home conference game. This is probably Anderson’s best team at Arkansas, likely his first NCAA Tournament team down there. In sophomore Bobby Portis and junior Michael Qualls, he has the talent to go with his pressing, up-tempo system.

This will be a tough game for Missouri on Saturday, but it would be a huge step forward if they could get the win.

Editor’s note: Benjamin Herrold grew up in Daviess County and graduated from Gilman City High School. He then graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and now writes as the field editor for Missouri Farmer Today and is based in Columbia. He visits home frequently and owns a farm in Daviess County.