COLUMBIA, Mo. — At the original home of the “Forty Minutes of Hell” defense, Missouri’s Dennis Gates unleashed 20 hellacious minutes of zone two weeks ago at Arkansas.
Gates’ Tigers stymied the Razorbacks with mild pressure in the backcourt that morphed into a hybrid of zone defenses in the halfcourt, each time daring one of the Southeastern Conference’s worst perimeter shooting teams to uncork shots from deep. Arkansas’ late splurge at Bud Walton Arena spoiled Mizzou’s otherwise defensive masterpiece through the first half. Playing exclusively zone defense those first 20 minutes, the Tigers held Arkansas to 27 points on 32 possessions and 2 of 12 shooting from 3-point range while forcing 10 turnovers.