Anderson era begins 3-0
Published Nov. 14, 2006
Just three regular season games into his tenure at MU, coach Mike Anderson already has hardware to display.
With their 66-45 victory against Stetson on Sunday, the Tigers won the John Thompson Foundation Classic. Junior center Kalen Grimes earned tournament MVP honors, and guards Matt Lawrence and Stefhon Hannah were named to the all-tournament team.
The team had a 101-80 win against North Carolina A&T on Friday night in a game that was never in doubt — walk-on junior guard Nick Berardini played the last two minutes.
The Tigers didn't have the same luxury against Army on Saturday. They led 38-26 at the half, but an early second-half rally from the Black Knights tied the game. MU ended up winning 67-58.
With the Tigers the only team in the tournament without a loss, MU was in a position to take the championship with a win against Stetson. But the Tigers did not seize the opportunity in the first half, allowing the score to go back and forth. Stetson led 27-25 at the break, and after the game, Anderson said he was not happy about the first half.
"I didn't think we had the energy you've got to have," he said.
Lawrence and Grimes said in his halftime speech, Anderson threatened a Monday practice if the team did not play better in the second half. Monday was slated to be an off day after playing three games in three days.
Grimes was the team's lone bright spot in the first half, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds before the intermission.
"Kalen has worked extremely hard, now the mental part has come," Anderson said.
Grimes had the first two double-doubles of his career against Army and Stetson with 18 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday and 14 points and 11 rebounds on Sunday.
Anderson described the game as a tale of two halves, and the team showed marked improvement in almost every statistical category in the second half against Stetson.
"I think we played better in the second half, and the score shows it," Grimes said.
The Tigers outscored the Hatters 41-18 in the second half. MU turned the ball over 11 times in the first half but only twice in the second. Its shooting improved from 37 percent to 52 percent in the second half. Three-point shooting improved from 11 percent to 50 percent.
Lawrence struggled with shooting in the first half but had better luck in the second.
"You always get more confident as your shots fall," Lawrence said. He credited the coaches for encouraging him to keep shooting in the first half even when his shots weren't falling.
Lawrence said he thought that in the second half the team played with more energy.
"We got back to our up-tempo style in the second half," he said.
Even with the improvement, Anderson said that there is still more work to do, especially rebounding.
"I think it's something we've got to continue to work on," he said.
Anderson said that with the team's up-tempo style, the players are often more spread out than in other systems. This makes it harder to rebound, which means that everyone must get involved.
Next for the team is a home game at 7 p.m. Thursday against Lipscomb.