COLUMBIA, Mo. - The last time No. 15 Missouri played Arkansas, things went about as perfectly as they could have for the Tigers. Five different players scored in double figures, the team made 52 percent of its 3s and its shots and had 51 points at the break on what turned out to be an 88-54 victory.
Missouri (19-5, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) then lost three straight games to ranked opponents and went down to the wire at home against Florida and Kentucky, winning those two games by a combined seven points.
The Tigers play today in Fayetteville, Ark., looking to recover some of their mojo against the Razorbacks (12-12, 3-8 SEC). Arkansas returns to the court after a near-upset Thursday of No. 11 Tennessee, losing at home 90-85 to the Lady Vols, and wants to show Missouri it can play closer than the 34-point margin in the last meeting.
Today's game tips at 4 p.m. (SEC Network).
Missouri's recent struggles can be traced to rebounding. The Tigers have been outrebounded just three times all season and once in SEC play, and did a remarkable job staying ahead of Florida, the second-best team in the conference in that category. And while Missouri's 33 boards against the Gators and 31 against the Wildcats, while allowing 32 and 22, respectively, preserved their average margin of plus-nine rebounds per game, it's the offensive rebounds allowed that help clarify the losses and close scores lately.
Florida managed 14 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points Monday, and Kentucky grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and put back 12 second-chance points. Against the Gators, a team that made nine of 33 3-point shots, a few odd bounces that lead to a second chance are understandable, but Kentucky shot half as many 3s and still had no trouble on the offensive glass.
A trend started for the Tigers in their last meeting against Arkansas of allowing teams to collect more than 10 offensive rebounds: 12 to Arkansas, 11 at Georgia, 14 at South Carolina and 13 against Mississippi State. But none of those opponents, even the No. 2 team in the country, scored double-digit second-chance points.
That's a cause for concern, especially against teams that aren't, on paper, bigger or more skilled than Missouri. The Razorbacks probably won't be the team to beat the Tigers that way, as Arkansas is minus-eight in rebound margin in SEC games, but eliminating easy scoring chances in today's game will be a sign of progress.
The Tigers have won the last four meetings between the two teams going back to the end of the 2015-16 season by an average score of 71-51.
Where Missouri does need to worry is on the breakout. The Tigers did a good job of getting back and stopping Arkansas from scoring in transition at Mizzou Arena, but part of the Razorbacks' success against Tennessee earlier this week was scoring 29 points in transition. They consistently beat the Lady Vols up the floor, aided by 11 steals, and with 29 points from Devin Cosper and 25 from Malica Monk, nearly pulled off a huge upset.
Cosper missed the Missouri game with an ankle injury and struggled in her return against the Gamecocks, but seems determined to make up for lost time and is averaging 22 points per game in the last three games.