COLUMBIA, Mo. β Three-pointers and free throws weren't the only numbers that jumped out of Arizonaβs 79-60 win over Missouri on Saturday.
There was also all this: Arizona outrebounded Missouri 46-28, had 12 offensive rebounds lead to 15 second-chance points and received 18 rebounds from its three perimeter players. Rawle Alkins had nine, Kadeem Allen had seven and Kobi Simmons grabbed two.
This production came from a team that hasnβt rebounded as dominantly so far this season as its size might suggest.
βThat was the biggest emphasis for our team,β UA coach Sean Miller said. βWeβve been in the last three or four seasons, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, especially defensively. This year weβre not off to as good a start and thereβs reasons for that.
βWeβre playing shorthanded. Our bigs right now maybe arenβt as gifted rebounding as some of the guys and we have to do a better job. We have to block out. Our guards have to rebound. With Rawle, especiallly if you look at him physically, heβs a very good rebounder. Itβs just he has to learn how to do it in college. But he did a really good job as did Keanu. The rebounding margin was something that really helped us.β
Foul trouble not only limited Lauri Markkanen to 21 minutes Saturday but Miller said about eight of them were in-and-out minutes, times heβd put in Markkanen to use him offensively then yank him out of the defense.
βWe were trying to steal him on offense and bring him out so he doesnβt get his third or fourth (foul) on defense, so he never really got into the flow,β Miller said. βBut foul trouble is big. Thatβs part of what a young group has to learn is how not to foul. We had some really undisciplined plays where I thought we played really good defense, it was a hard drive, you have to make him make the shot over you and you reach down.
βWe have to correct that moving forward but Missouri really attacks you in transition and they really attacks you off the drive, so you have to use your length and size to your advantage not your disadvantage.β
Missouri wound up shooting 30 free throws, making 20 of them, while Arizona took only 10 and made eight. Thatβs 12 extra points the Tigers were able to gain at the line.
βThere arenβt a lot of teams that shoot 30 free throws against us, especially with us shooting only 10,β Miller said. βThat had nothing to do with the officials. That was the style of the game. We were undisciplined. They played zone. They dared us to shoot.β
Markkanen largely blamed himself for his five fouls, even as one second-half foul appeared to be called for invading an offensive playerβs space and lightly touching him. Markkanen said he was trying to stop right in front of his man β βthatβs the purpose of the defense,β he said -- but was ruled to have gone too far.
βThereβs a lot of things I had to adjust,β Markkanen said. βBut obviously itβs not all about the refs when theyβre calling the fouls. Itβs me too. And I canβt affect how refs are calling me fouls.β
And, lastly, it wasnβt all about offense or rebounding for Arizona, either. Arizona kept Mizzou to just 26.9-percent shooting in the second half and the Tigers made just 1 of 8 3-pointers after halftime.
βThatβs something weβre starting to take pride in,β Alkins said.
While the Hoophall West recruiting showcase wrapped up Saturday, Arizona coaches are expected to watch DeAndre Ayton play for Hillcrest Prep on Sunday in at Bella Vista College Prep in Scottsdale.
The Duel in the Desert event will match up Hillcrest with California’s Prolific Prep (Josh Jackson’s former school) at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 and the game is scheduled to be streamed live at tanagersports.tv.
Our full game story and seen-and-heard notes are attached to this post, as well as Zack Rosenblattβs story on Ayton, along with PDFs of the box score and updated stats.
