For those of you who have no interest in sports, no need to even bother reading this post.
I am so, so proud of the Tigers tonight. All year long since the first game, which Mizzou lost to Sam Houston State University, I have had to hear how bad my team is this year. The Tigers took a tough loss at Davidson, who is a very disciplined team who showed the Tigers how an offense is supposed to be run. The Tigers lost to Illinois by 32. Yet I insisted that this team had talent that was starting to develop and that you could see the coaching staff was making changes that were helping on offense.
Flash forward to this week. On Saturday, my Tigers beat Oklahoma State at home in their best performance of the season. Tonight, they followed it up with a performance that topped their previous performance by beating Oklahoma on the road. There were several times when Oklahoma tried to deliver a knockout blow. Yet time and time again, Mizzou got off the mat and fought back. Some quick points:
--Kevin Young won this game tonight. He had two key baskets. One was the three point play he scored after OU went on an early 6-0 run to start the second half. MU could have easily been blown out had he not hit that key basket to break OU's run. The other great basket was the one that put us ahead 47-45 and allowed the MU team to believe that they could win the game. Also, Kevin made a momentum changing play with Mizzou down by 6 in the second half. OU had a 4 on 1 break and Kevin managed to draw a charging foul despite being outnumbered. He has really progressed as a player and it's great to see it finally showing on the court. No one deserves it more.
--Thomas Gardner is a legitimate leader for this team. He still makes the occasional bad turnover, but when MU needs a score, Thomas has been the one to deliver it all year long.
--I have no clue how Marshall managed to bang home those two free throws at the end of the game. That is some extreme pressure and Marshall did a great job making 2 of 3 free throws when it counted.
These players and this coaching staff have been told they are no good all season long. All they've done is continue to work hard, rewarding the fans who have stayed loyal to the program through thick and thin. There better be a full house in Mizzou Arena when I come back to the state of Missouri this Saturday. It's the very, very least that the season ticket holders can do for a team that has fought through a slow start to earn the respect of this Mizzou fan and many, many other fans. It's a shame that a fair weather fan base has to have this kind of a statement game to support a team that they supposedly love. Those same fair weather fans owe this team and the coaches an apology for their lack of loyalty. Great job Tigers!
