The effort was amazing but the play was dumb. Why is Lovett not getting assists this year? He and Ponds need to touch the ball every possession. Simon had five ugly unforced turnovers in the half court and two others where he jumped for no reason with the ball and got bailed out. Post him up and let him use his strengths (vision, passing, long arms) while minimizing his high and loose handle. He's a 1-2 dribble player in the half court. Ponds doesn't make those mistakes.
This is a disappointing loss. Missouri is bubble team and we couldn't beat them on a neutral court without their best player and with 3 of their top 6 players being freshmen. Losers bracket.
Again, I don't understand calling Mizzou a bubble team, so early in the season. We don't know that yet. They could be a bubble team, a team who easily makes the tournament, or a team who ultimately flames out. Too early to tell, IMO.
But, you said Seton Hall (paraphrased) would easily advance in the NCAA Tournament, but they lost what was practically a home game to Rhode Island who was missing (what you'd consider to be) one of their best players and a reserve player.
Disappointing loss? Yes, being we was up 8 after trailing by 16, and in a position to finish off Mizzou. Michael Porter, Jr. was likely their best player, but he only played 2 minutes the entire season. Mizzou has a mixture of veteran players and youth. They also have guys who can knock it in from deep, as well as a reliable inside presence or two. Those are recipes for having a decent-to-good team.
You have this thing about wanting to be right, and you start having biases about certain personnel. Do I think Mullin should've stuck Simon in the middle of Mizzou's zone? No doubt. I think he would've excelled there. I do agree, he should often post up. Simon had some key turnovers today, but the main issues was rebounding, shot selection, and perimeter defense.
Frankly, we overcame the rebounding, but the latter two essentially did us in.