Missouri Tigers vs Oklahoma State Cowboys Basketball Recap

Missouri 95, Oklahoma State 80

Basketball is still a five-on-five sport. It's hard to win when only two players show up, and that's what the Oklahoma State Cowboys were reminded of on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, Mo.

In a key Big 12 battleground game between a pair of bubble teams, it was Missouri who picked up a valuable win by taking down Oklahoma State at Mizzou Arena. The basic reason for the Tigers' success was the fact that they received major contributions from several players on their roster, while the Cowboys only brought two big-time ballers to the building.

Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford couldn't complain about the effort put forth by James Anderson and Matt Pilgrim in this game. Anderson - OSU's meal-ticket scorer, who entered this game averaging 22 points per outing - and Pilgrim - a reserve forward - combined to score 52 of the Pokes' 80 points against the pressure defense posed by Missouri coach Mike Anderson. Even more specifically, the Anderson-Pilgrim pair scored Oklahoma State's first 28 second-half points. Not until the 7:47 mark of the second stanza did someone other than Anderson or Pilgrim put the ball in the bucket for the orange-clad visitors from Stillwater, Okla. Guard Obi Muonelo - a key cog in the OSU machine - was limited to 7 points on 2-of-6 shooting. Another core member of the Cowboys, rugged junior forward Marshall Moses, finished with only 6 points. Pilgrim did come off the pine, which enhanced OSU's bench scoring, but the reserves other than Pilgrim managed a meager 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting. Few players answered the call for the Cowboys, who found themselves outflanked and outhustled by the hard-charging Tigers.

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Missouri had five players score in double figures and gained 42 points from its bench. Anderson's "40 Minutes of Hell" defense depends on a deep rotation, and his 10-man crew certainly exerted its influence against an undermanned opponent.

A key dimension of Missouri's pronounced superiority - and more particularly, its game-defining depth - was revealed by the fact that the Tigers forced 22 Oklahoma State turnovers from eight different Cowboy players. It's not as though Mizzou hounded any one player on Ford's roster; Anderson - a Nolan Richardson disciple - merely released the hounds and reaped the benefits of his team's fresher legs, which were enhanced by the hunger which coursed through the Tigers' veins.

Oklahoma State did get two five-star performances, but Missouri had the far more complete team. That's how bubble teams rise and fall in the Big 12 and, for that matter, any other conference in the country.

By: Matt Zemek
Big 12 Fans Senior Staff Writer