Game notes: Injury scares hit Tigers
Published Nov. 17, 2009
Bumps and bruises
Missouri escaped the exhibition season without any injury scares but dealt with a couple such instances in the regular season opener.
Senior guard J.T. Tiller left the game in the second half with a sprained left foot. Coach Mike Anderson said he'll know more about his condition Wednesday.
Early on in the half, Tiller hit the deck after a shot attempt and stayed on the floor before limping to the bench. Shortly after, he walked into the locker room with training staff members.
“He’s doing fine," sophomore guard Marcus Denmon said. "It wasn’t anything major."
Anderson discussed what the team missed with Tiller off the court.
“He spearheads our defense,” Anderson said. “He’s just tenacious. He’s a guy who can really cut and curl.”
In the first half, sophomore guard Kim English banged his head on the floor. The sophomore stayed in the game but seemed to be affected by the fall.
English finished the game with six points and five rebounds.
“For a period there he didn’t look like himself," Anderson said. "He was kind of pressing a little bit, trying to do it all."
Off the bench
Missouri’s bench outscored Tennessee-Martin’s bench 45 to 13 and spent a lot more time on the floor than that of the Skyhawks.
Missouri didn’t have a player play more than 26 minutes as Tennessee-Martin had three players see more than 30 minutes of action. All three of those players were starters.
Overall, the Skyhawks had 46 minutes from its bench, and Missouri got 101 minutes from its reserves.
Missouri makes it official
Although reports came out Sunday about the commitment, Missouri made it official Tuesday, announcing Dallas-area recruit Tony Mitchell signed his letter of intent.
Rivals.com ranks the 6-foot-8-inch, 220-pound forward the No. 15 recruit of the class of 2010.
The commitment ends a period in which Missouri received letters of intent from three other recruits in the past week.
Mitchell joined Rick Kreklow, Phil Pressey and Kadeem Green as the Tigers’ early signing period catches.
Tiger tracks
The win pushes Missouri’s winning streak at Mizzou Arena to 20 games — one shy of tying the fifth-best mark in Missouri history.
The Tigers’ all-time record in season openers is now 83-21. The Tigers improved to 88-15 in home-openers.
The Tigers lead the all-time series with Tennessee-Martin 5-0.
A look around the Big 12
Missouri was the last team in the conference to start the regular season. Some teams have already played three games.
It’s been so far, so good for the Big 12 in non-conference play. Heading into play Tuesday night, the conference was 19-0 with Baylor and Texas Tech at 3-0.
The Big 12 and Big East are the only two conferences in the nation without a loss so far this year.