Tigers fall short, but prove plenty
KANSAS CITY—On Saturday night, every Mizzou player said that Sunday’s Showdown for Relief exhibition game against Kansas was going to be a measuring stick; an early season chance to find out how they stacked up against one of the country’s best teams.
So what did they find out in a 93-87 loss to the third-ranked Jayhawks?
“I learned that we can compete with the best,” Jordan Barnett said. “We know we have the opportunity to be an extremely talented team and we are a really talented team. This was a great opportunity to see how we stacked up against the best of the best.
“We came up short, but we played with them for a large part of the game and that’s good.”
“One thing I take away from this game is just how much better we can get,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “I feel like we’re a very talented team and we had spots in the game where we showed that. I feel like if we keep working hard, every day in practice work hard, the sky’s the limit for this team.”
The Tigers hung in with the Jayhawks for most of the day. They led 56-50 with 15:46 left. But a veteran Kansas team got stops and made shots down the stretch while the young Tigers relied perhaps a bit too much on jump shots and one-on-one play instead of the team defense, ball movement and rebounding that carried them for the games first 30 minutes.
Kansas’ biggest lead came at 83-66. Missouri made a a late charge and got as close as seven at 85-78, but Blake Harris missed two free throws that would have cut it to five and Kansas closed things out from there. But, still, on this day where the teams raised more than $1.75 million for hurricane relief efforts, Missouri fans saw the rebirth of their basketball program.
Porter Jr. missed 14 of his 20 shots, but still led the Tigers with 21 points on the day and added eight rebounds.
“I was pretty disappointed with my personal performance,” he said. “I thought there were a lot more things I could have done for the team. I put this loss kind of on myself a little bit.”
“The expectations for him, everything surrounding him, he’s supposed to be at a high level every night,” head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Every shot is gauged and analyzed. That’s not an easy thing to go through, but he’ll study and he’ll be ready to go next time out.”
Barnett, the lone holdover from last year’s roster to start, added 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Jontay Porter--who is supposed to be getting ready start his senior season of high school basketball--nearly notched a double-double, getting nine points and 12 rebounds. Jeremiah Tilmon fouled out despite the generous allotment of seven whistles per player, but gave the Tigers 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in just 13 minutes.
“He did a great job of sprinting, getting aggressive post position,” Martin said. “We hadn’t spent a lot of time on our post defense so blame a lot of those baskets from Udoka (Azubuike) on me. I thought he battled.”
“He was a beast,” Barnett said of Tilmon. “He’s a bull down there and he showed us a lot.”
Missouri isn’t there yet. Kansas has players who have been. Lagerald Vick scored 13, Mississippi State transfer Malik Newman scored 17 and Devonte Graham, a national player of the year candidate, led all scorers with 25 and 10 rebounds.
“He’s battled tested and he’s big time,” Martin said of Graham. “When you’ve been in big games as a senior there’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
But the Tigers played just three players who have seen previous action at a high-major school more than nine minutes. They started three freshmen and a graduate transfer from Canisius in Kassius Robertson and brought another first year player off the bench early in Jontay Porter. The baby-faced group traded punches and went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s top teams for about three-quarters of Sunday’s contest.
“It seemed like a potential NCAA Tournament game,” Barnett said. “It just made it that much more fun to play in. I hope to play in a lot of games like that in the future.”
The question, then, was whether any of those potential games might come against the Jayhawks.
“I thought you would let me out of here without that one,” Martin said with a soft laugh. “Of course you want to play the game. This is a great program. Bill’s done a tremendous job. Of course we’d love to play them. I think both sides have to be in on something like that. We’ll see.”
Whether Kansas returns to the schedule—potentially even in an actual NCAA Tournament matchup later this season—remains to be seen. But what can’t be doubted after Sunday is that following three seasons in which it won just 27 games, Missouri basketball is ready for a return to games that matter in college hoops.
“I take a lot of pride in getting this program back to the level where I think it should be and could be,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but I take that seriously and we’ll get there without a doubt.”
“I’m excited for the future,” Barnett added.
Missouri fans should be as well. That's what Sunday proved.