COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – Dru Smith hopes that all exclusive Missouri player meetings will lead to this.
Smith said that 20th-placed Tigers faced off without coaches for Saturday’s game against South Carolina, simply to make sure they were all in the same direction in the final stretch of the season.
Missouri certainly looked in sync, with Smith scoring 17 and Mark Smith 13, while the Tigers ended a streak of three games lost with a 93-78 victory over tough South Carolina.
“You want to put everything out,” said Dru Smith, the veteran redshirt. “Anything that will help us, we want to put it on the air.”
The result was a target-oriented and defensive spirit, with Missouri playing as it did most of the season.
“It was great for our guys to get that win,” said coach Cuonzo Martin.
The Tigers (14-6, 7-6 of the Southeast Conference) opened a 19 point lead in the first half and stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way to sweep the Gamecocks (5-11, 3-9), who lost their fifth consecutive game.
The Smiths, unrelated senior beginners, were a big reason for this, as they spurred Missouri’s revolutionary 25 to 12 race in the first half.
After Trae Hannibal’s second straight 3-point tie to South Carolina within 20-17 with 11 minutes to go, Mark Smith started the attack with 3 and Dru Smith followed with a long distance.
By the time Dru Smith hit another 3, six minutes later, the Tigers were at 38-23 and cruising.
South Carolina recovered in the second half to reduce its deficit to 59-52 in Justin Minaya’s basket, with 10 minutes left.
Then the Smiths started again, with Mark scoring seven points and Dru four, while the Tigers increased the margin back to 73-56.
“We said to ourselves, ‘We need to nip this in the bud’ and that’s exactly what we did,” said Mark Smith.
Gamecocks were unable to respond. Missouri hit 57.6%, the second time this season that set South Carolina on fire, after setting the season’s record with 58.3% of its pitches in an 81-70 victory last month.
“We are still looking for someone to take possession defensively. Defensively, we are very bad, ”said South Carolina coach Frank Martin.
Missouri ended up with five players in double digits. Jeremiah Tilmon had 17 points from a perfect shot performance (5 out of 5 from the field, 7 out of 7 from the free-throw line), Xavier Pinson had 16 points and Kobe Brown 12, all in the first half.
AJ Lawson had the game’s best mark, 22 points, to lead South Carolina.
Missouri was fighting for one of the first seeds – and the farewell that comes with it – in the SEC tournament before its three-game losing streak.
The Tigers’ defense played a big role in the beginning, as South Carolina, 12th in the league’s pitch percentage, hit 1 out of 12 in a period. The Gamecocks had lost seven straight when Lawson hit a 30-footer on the buzzer to give Missouri a 45-29 lead at halftime.
THE GREAT IMAGE
Missouri: The Tigers were one of the SEC’s strongest teams before their losing streak. They played that way again. If the Smiths can continue to beat from the outside while Tilmon and Brown control the medium, they will be difficult to defeat.
South Carolina: It has been a real struggle for Gamecocks to find consistency. In addition to Lawson and Keyshawn Bryant, South Carolina did not have a third goal option to rely on. It didn’t help the point guard Jermaine Couisnard to be out for the second game in a row.
CUONZO MILESTONE
The victory was the 250th in Martin’s career. The Tigres’ fourth-year coach said he is grateful to have achieved so many achievements because the victories “are very difficult to happen. I will keep working. “
TILMON RETURN
Jeremiah Tilmon had lost the previous two games due to a death in his family. His return was an incentive for the Tigers. “Just to have you back, to have your presence back, you could really feel it on the court,” said Mark Smith.
NEXT
Missouri will face Mississippi at home Tuesday night.
South Carolina heads to the state of Mississippi on Wednesday night.
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