Try as he might, Michael Porter Jr. couldn't save Missouri from itself
NASHVILLE — As the the final 60 seconds ticked off the clock at Bridgestone Arena Friday night, Michael Porter Jr. — with a towel draped around his neck and his 6-foot-10 frame hunched over itself on the sideline — sat silently in his chair as Florida State delivered the final death blows to a season that brimmed with potential but ultimately ended with little more than whimper. When he was taken out of the game for the final time with 2 minutes and 8 seconds left, Porter walked to the end of the bench, acknowledging each outstretched hand from his teammates before taking a seat next to his dad, who tapped him twice on the leg to tell him it’d be OK. He pulled the towel hanging from his neck, leaned forward and wiped off the tears streaming down his face as he hung the head that just four months earlier had carried the crown as the savior of Missouri basketball.
But the 18-year-old boy that fans and NBA executives fawned over since he dunked from a step inside the free throw line as a high school sophomore couldn’t save his team from itself. Four months after back surgery, and probably a month too soon, Porter Jr. tried, and tried and tried to re-create the version of himself Missouri fans had sold out an entire 15,000-seat arena’s worth of season tickets to watch.
It made no difference how badly he or any of the eight healthy, eligible players in Missouri’s huddle wanted this one.
It didn’t matter that Kassius Robertson’s final performance in a Mizzou-emblazoned uniform nearly brought Missouri back from a 22-point deficit.
And it didn’t matter that Porter showed those flashes of brilliance that gave the Missouri fans in attendance hope that maybe, just maybe this group could pull it off.
The problems that had plagued Missouri all season long — the turnovers, the minutes-long stretches without scoring, the foul trouble — ultimately did the Tigers in one final time. Missouri finished with 16 turnovers, nowhere near their season-high, but 10 of them came in the final 16:39 of the first half as Florida State blitzed them en route to a 42-20 halftime lead.
“It's tough,” Robertson said after the game. “I think we had a problem with that all year to be honest. Not to that severity, but we would kind of come out flat in the first halves and going into halves. I think it was a problem all year. I would have hoped that we fixed it all year. We messed up this game. Last two games it's been like that.”
On a night when Jontay Porter and Jeremiah Tilmon’s nine fouls were more than double the number of points they combined for, the onus fell on Robertson, who had carried the Tigers offensively at time this year, and Porter, who estimated he was only 65 percent healthy when he decided to play in Missouri’s SEC Tournament game against Georgia.
After a mostly unspectacular first half outside of a 3-pointer in the game’s opening seconds, Robertson got his groove back in the second half, hitting four of five from beyond the arc. Porter, though, never seemed to find his role in Missouri’s offense. His 16 points were only behind Robertson’s 19, but more often than not, he was simply out of place. As soon as he’d pass the ball, he’d ask for it right back, standing still as the game moved around him.
On the perimeter, he’d often be in the same three-foot area as Robertson or Jordan Geist. When he posted up, it would clog up the lane for he, Jontay, Tilmon and Kevin Puryear. Trying to make up for lack of “pop” as he called it, Porter took a handful of off-balance, contested jumpers, one of which just nicked the rim and three that missed completely. For a player who will make his living on a basketball court, he never looked more lost on one than he did Friday.
“I’m typically a pretty mentally tough player. Not a lot can usually get to me,” he said. “But when you can’t do what you want to physically, it really makes you second-guess your decisions. ‘Can I get past this guy?’ Normally, you know you can so you might try to, but you’re thinking too much, and basketball is a game that when you’re free, you’re at your best. The last couple games, I didn’t play free and I was just thinking too much.”
Yet when Missouri made its run in the second half, it was Porter and Robertson leading the charge. After Robertson hit a long three in the face of Terance Mann with just over 11 minutes to go to cut Florida State’s lead to eight, Porter skied for a rebound off of a C.J. Forrest miss, grabbed the ball with his left hand and took off the other way, weaving in and out of traffic as drove to the basket and drew a foul. His free throws cut the deficit to six, the smallest it had been since the 9:32 to mark of the first half.
On the next trip down the floor, though, Porter overran his closeout on a 3-pointer by Phil Cofer, knocking him to the ground and giving him three shots at the line. Cofer hit two of the three, and starting at that moment, it all unraveled for Missouri again. Florida State would score the next 15 points, extending its lead to 21 with 5:28 to go.
Three minutes later when Reed Nikko replaced him and Porter walked to the Missouri bench, a smattering of claps from the section behind Missouri’s bench greeted him. A farewell nowhere near befitting the throne Porter had been thrust upon just a few months ago.
As reporters took turns asking Porter about his health, his season and ultimately his legacy, he stumbled and stuttered trying to come up with the words, until he ultimately found the right ones.
“I made a decision to try to help the team, and I gave what I could give with what I have right now. I would hope that they would see that, but I didn’t probably didn’t play to their expectations or my expectations, so it’s understandable if that’s not what they’re thinking right now.”
TURNING POINT: Porter Jr. fouling Cofer on a 3-pointer attempt with 9:29 to go. Missouri had every bit of momentum in that arena, cutting Florida State’s lead all the way down to six after Porter’s free throws. But his mistake seemed to take the life out of he and the rest of the Tigers. A six-point FSU lead quickly ballooned to 21, and Missouri could never recover.
IT WAS OVER WHEN: PJ Savoy knocked down a 3-pointer with 8:32 to go, stretching Florida State’s lead to 13 and knocking the final bit of life out of the Tigers.
CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter didn’t immediately announce they were entering the draft after the game. Both said they’ll take some to think and talk to friends and family before making any decisions.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: If the Porter Bros. don’t return, Missouri is likely in for a rebuilding year next season. Gone would be Robertson, Barnett and both Porters. Tilmon, Puryear and a solid recruiting class that could include four-star point guard Courtney Ramey will be a tough out, but they might not be ready for another NCAA Tournament run.
STOCK UP: Robertson. The unquestioned leader of Missouri’s team led the Tigers with 19 points, dragging them back into the game in the second half.
STOCK DOWN: Virginia. If you thought tonight was bad by any stretch of the imagination, take solace in the fact that Missouri no longer holds the deed to the worst upset loss in NCAA Tournament history. The Cavaliers weren’t just the first No. 1 seed ever beaten by a No. 16 seed, but they were dominated from start to finish.