MBB Preview: Eastern Washington presents opportunity for first winning streak of the season

Nov 11, 2024 | Uncategorized

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Missouri guard Anthony Robinson II (0) poses after being fouled while shooting in the second half of a game against Howard on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Mizzou Arena. (CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M NATION)

Dan Monson made headlines for being the only head coach in March Madness last year that had already been fired, will his Eagles bring trouble to Mizzou?

Predict who will dominate the boards: Who will be Missouri’s rebounding leader?

Missouri’s last contest against Howard produced some concerns on the glass, it will be interesting to see if they can wipe those concerns in this one.

The Tigers have failed to produce a truly complete performance this season, but they have a chance to do so against Eastern Washington. The Eagles are a guard-driven team that usually only have one big man on the court, which allows for various opportunities for a Tiger-team that is loaded on size in comparison to years past.

A win in this game means the Tigers first winning streak since the Tigers beat Wichita State on December 3, 2023. It would also be the Tigers first time above .500 since the Tigers were 8-7 after a 90-77 loss at the hands of Kentucky in the early-goings of January 2024.

The Starters

Mizzou (1-1)

G: Anthony Robinson II (SO, 14.5 PPG)

G: Caleb Grill (GRAD, 3 PPG)

G: Tamar Bates (SR, 15 PPG)

F: Mark Mitchell (JR, 12 PPG)

C: Josh Gray (SR, 3.5 PPG)

Notable Sixth Man: Trent Pierce (SO, 6.5 PPG)

Eastern Washington (1-1)

G: Andrew Cook (SR, 16 PPG)

G: Nic McClain (JR, 10.5 PPG)

G: Sebastian Hartmann (SO, 11 PPG)

G: Mason Williams (SO, 11 PPG)

F: Emmett Marquardt (FR, 8 PPG)

Notable Sixth Man: Vice Zanki (SO, 9.5 PPG)

Note: These starting lineups are projected.

Get To Know Eastern Washington: One of the Big Sky’s most formidable teams

Eastern Washington isn’t exactly a powerhouse in the sense that you don’t regularly see them in the big dance come March, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t one of the Big Sky’s most premier opponents. The Eagles are currently on a 10-year streak of garnering at least double digit wins in the Big Sky, but have only one two conference titles in that span.

EWU’s head coach is Dan Monson, who was hired from Long Beach State after their former coach David Riley left for Washington State. Monson made headlines last year as being the coach who labeled his situation as a “Seinfeld Episode” after he was fired by LBSU right before their conference tournament, and proceeded to win five games in five days and lead LBSU to a shock appearance in March Madness. Prior to LBSU, Monson was famously the head coach that kickstarted Gonzaga’s rise in college basketball before leaving for Minnesota where he had a less than impressive stint.

Last season, the Eagles finished 1st in the Big Sky with a 15-3 conference record but were notoriously shocked in round one by Sacramento State. Out of their top five scorers from last year’s team, none of them are in this year’s lineup as Monson had to come in and really build this program.

As far as their odds for this season, the Eagles were picked to finish sixth in the pre-season media poll and ninth in the pre-season coaches poll. Thus far, Eastern Washington were unable to capitalize on a 31-25 halftime lead against Colorado to open the season as it turned into a 76-56 loss. They are coming into this game off of a 93-86 win over Seattle who were picked to finish third in the pre-season WAC poll.

3 keys to the game

1. Play a complete game

Even though the Tigers were able to pull away from Howard late in the last game, they still almost squandered a 12-point halftime lead as they let Howard bring the game as close to a four-point deficit with under five minutes remaining. As Quentin said in the last preview, it was an issue that plagued last year’s team deeply and if they can’t fix that issue this year then similar SEC results are to be expected.

2. Dominate the glass

Power conference teams assert their dominance over pesky mid-majors by getting the tough rebounds and second chance opportunities, and that was not something Missouri did effectively enough against Howard. In 35 minutes combined Annor Boateng and Aidan Shaw combined for just two total rebounds, and with the size advantage this team is going to have over a guard centric Eagle team that just cannot repeat itself on Monday night.

3. Share the wealth

Good basketball teams rack up assists, and the Tigers haven’t really done that this season. They were out-assisted 14-9 by Howard and tied Memphis 16-16 in assists in the opener and that shows that there’s just not enough ball movement leading to buckets for this team at the moment. Missouri ranks 225th in KenPom when it comes to Tempo, and I think if they up the tempo they can start seeing more passing lanes open up and more buckets.

Game Prediction

My Prediction: Missouri 86, Eastern Washington 60

Let’s just face it, this isn’t the Eastern Washington of old. They have a completely new coach, identity, and roster and Monson has made it clear that this team is in a rebuilding phase highlighted by the inexperience of the roster with only one senior in the starting five and that being Andrew Cook who transferred from junior college. I think this Missouri team is going to have a bad taste in their mouth of how the second halves have went against both Memphis and Howard, and are going to turn in their first clean second half performance of the season.

The Big Sky as a whole is definitely a conference that has not really had success in March, as Montana was actually the last team in the conference to even win a tournament game and that was in 2005-06 when the 12th-seeded Grizzlies took down the fifth-seeded Nevada Wolfpack.

The conference has just two teams in the Top 200 of KenPom, with Northern Colorado coming in at 170th as the best rated team in the conference. This makes the Big Sky one of the weaker mid-major conferences in the country, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Missouri beat Missouri tomorrow.

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