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Quick Hits: Missouri, Ohio State, and more from Saturday’s action

frank-haith

Mike Miller

There was a lot of college basketball action on Saturday. Let’s take a look at some overlooked observations from the deep slate:

Missouri misses Michael Dixon...badly

Of the ten players who got minutes in Missouri’s big loss to Florida, nine of them did not see the floor in a Tigers uniform last season. That means a lot of roster turnover and it highlights a loss that Missouri suffered early in the season--guard Michael Dixon. Dixon was suspended from the team after reportedly being accused of forcible rape.

Putting aside the legal aspect and focusing on the basketball implications, Missouri lost out on his 13.5 points per game and, perhaps more importantly, his efficient shooting from the floor and from three-point range. Transfer Jabari Brown has done what he can, actually even scoring more points per game than Dixon, but it’s not the same.

Brown is not as efficient a shooter from the floor as Dixon and does not have the backcourt chemistry with point guard Phil Pressey like Dixon did. Add that to a missing Laurence Bowers and Missouri’s offensive woes Saturday make sense.

Deshaun Thomas is Ohio State’s only real go-to option in the clutch

In Saturday’s loss to Michigan State on the road, Thomas scored 28 points. The rest of his team scored a combined 28 points. We saw the same problem against Michigan, though the Buckeyes ultimately won that game at home. While the Wolverines had more or less four scoring options (Burke, Hardaway Jr., Robinson III, Stauskas), all of the weight fell on Thomas’ shoulders for Ohio State. There’s no doubt that this team is defensive-minded, but they’ll need someone else to emerge as a go-to scorer to make it far in March.

Jamaal Franklin steers the San Diego State ship

It’s not really a revelation that one of the Mountain West’s best players is a key to his team’s success, but Wyoming showed what an increased defensive effort to pressure Franklin can do. He shot just 3-of-14 from the floor Saturday, giving the Luke Martinez-less Cowboys a home win in the conference. Credit Leonard Washington, too, who had a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds for Wyoming. An ugly 29 percent shooting night from San Diego State won’t get it done in this tough Mountain West.

Sean Kilpatrick carries Cincinnati without Cashmere Wright

The Bearcats thrive on their three-guard set, but without Cashmere Wright against a Top 25 Marquette team did not seem to bode well. But Sean Kilpatrick’s monster 36-point outing made the difference Saturday as Cincinnati stole a 71-69 win in overtime. A two-game skid earlier in conference play was due to a lack of offensive production, but being able to put up that “71" number on a solid defensive team without Wright should bode well for Mick Cronin’s team.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_