Tilmon, MU's frontcourt overpowered in loss to LSU - Columbia Missourian

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As dominant as big men can be, even Shaquille O’Neal had his kryptonite.

Missouri senior Jeremiah Tilmon bears a presence that demands similar attention in the Southeastern Conference. The 6-foot-10 center typically sees double teams, but LSU’s coverage on him was transcendent.

Through constant fouls — both on and against him — the big man never got going, and LSU’s frontcourt ultimately outplayed Missouri’s in a 86-80 loss at Mizzou Arena.

Tilmon is used to double and triple teams by now. In fact, he’s molded his game around them, finding any cracks in the defense or getting his teammates open looks. But LSU fully committed to shutting down Tilmon without doing anything extraordinarily different than most teams have, and it had an effect: MU’s center wound up shooting just three shots in 24 minutes.

“We had some opportunities at the rim, couldn’t finish at the rim” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “And of course we knew the game plan. They were gonna make it tough on Jeremiah Tilmon. He wasn’t gonna be the guy that beat them tonight.”

LSU sent swarms of players his way. It had a man on Tilmon’s back at all times, making sure to deny him in some form. If he even got a step in the right direction, chances are that LSU fouled him. Possessions like that either prevented Tilmon from getting going or sent him to the foul line.

The big man went 4 of 8 from the line, not good but certainly not his worst outing. Tilmon committed fouls at a rapid rate, sitting out for lengthy periods of time in each half. His dreaded fourth foul came with 14:07 left to play.

On the other end, Missouri attempted to give Trendon Watford similar irritation defensively. Watford was met down low by efficient and effective doubles through the first 20 minutes. MU held him to 2 of 9 shooting, making Tilmon’s ineffectiveness worthwhile.

That was until Watford exploded in the second half.

The sophomore forward dazzled, scoring 14 of his 19 points after halftime. With so much attention on Cameron Thomas’ shotmaking — which led to a game-high 29 points — Watford had a ball demonstrating his touch and skillset down the stretch.

The 6-9 forward nailed a short floater with graceful touch to give LSU a lead with 1:02 remaining. Thirty-one seconds later, it was his pivotal rebound that virtually sealed a win, with MU forced to foul.

“If you switch on him and he has a smaller guy, at 6-9 he can get around the rim and make a play,” Martin said. “If you don’t switch, he turns the corner. It’s not an easy thing, with him being 6-9 and 240 (pounds), and he attacks downhill and he’s good around the rim.”

It didn’t help that the physicality and fouls extended beyond MU’s man in the middle. Kobe Brown and Mitchell Smith, Missouri’s core frontcourt players outside of Tilmon, wound up with four fouls each. Both players were monumental on the glass: Brown finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Smith scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds

But LSU’s Darius Days mirrored Brown’s production before fouling out, and M’Wani Wilkinson got in on as much fun as Mitchell Smith did.

Days, Wilkinson and Watford combined for seven offensive rebounds. Days corralled seven of his nine total rebounds in the second half, with three of them being on the offensive end. Each of LSU’s offensive rebounds were seemingly game-changing, with the number of second chance points it generated (10) and the amount of fits LSU gave when a shot came off the rim having a lasting impact.

Teams should possibly note how LSU defended Tilmon. Perhaps it’s best that Tilmon doesn’t even get up a handful of shots. The “Hack-a-Tilmon” scheme seemed to work wonders. And despite a valiant effort from MU’s surrounding frontcourt players, LSU’s forwards got the last laugh.

Missouri finishes the regular season with a 15-8 record (8-8 in SEC). Its next stop is Nashville, Tennessee, where it’ll enter the SEC Tournament as the seventh seed.

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Tilmon, MU's frontcourt overpowered in loss to LSU - Columbia Missourian
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