香港三级片

Are the sophomores slumping?

Forgive the same four-word rhetorical question starting off both the preview for and the tale of No. 21 Missouri鈥檚 87-74 win at Georgia. It鈥檚 just that the answer has changed.

Mizzou coach Dennis Gates had publicly challenged his two sophomores 鈥� point guard Anthony Robinson II and forward Trent Pierce 鈥� ahead of the game.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e got to play better, and they know that,鈥� Gates said.

If slumping is what that duo was entering Saturday鈥檚 game, then snapping the slump is what they did in Athens, Georgia.

Robinson tied for the team lead with 15 points. He also added seven assists, five rebounds and four steals 鈥� and no turnovers. In the 26 minutes Robinson was on the floor, MU outscored Georgia by 24 points.

Pierce, who had played eight minutes across the Tigers鈥� last two outings, got 19 minutes of action against the Bulldogs. He scored eight points and, most critically to what Gates wants from the tall wing, secured five boards.

That鈥檚 the kind of box score Gates wants in his hands after a game.

In terms of game flow, Robinson in particular was even more impactful.

His playmaking popped but he didn鈥檛 do much scoring or stealing in the first half, and the Tigers trailed 41-38 at the break.

Then, after both teams traded a few early blows, Robinson entered the kitchen. He bagged a pull-up jumper with 17:39 left in the game to put Missouri up 48-47, which wound up being the last lead change of the afternoon. He laid in another bucket to feed that sapling of an advantage.

A Robinson assist put Mizzou up by six. A Robinson steal set up the layup that put the Tigers up by eight. A Robinson steal and dunk made the lead 10. Out of a timeout, A Robinson lob to forward Mark Mitchell made it 12. Another Robinson steal and dunk, exactly 60 seconds after the first pairing, nudged the lead to 14. A Robinson 3-pointer put MU up by 17 points.

Everything in that paragraph happened in 2:16 of game time, part of a 15-0 run that allowed the Tigers to blow right by their hosts.

As had been the case so often for Missouri during nonconference play, Robinson was the engine on both ends of the floor.

鈥淎nt Robinson had a big half,鈥� Gates said on the MU radio broadcast after the game. 鈥淚t was really good to see him step up.鈥�

Given that foul trouble had been holding Robinson back in the last few weeks, his ability to defend aggressively and freely seemed to loosen up the rest of his game. He fouled out in garbage time but drove a defensive turnaround that saw Georgia drop from a 61% shooting performance in the first half to 45% in the second.

鈥淲e listened to coach鈥檚 game plan at halftime,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淲e went out there and executed. That was a big part of that second half, the defense.鈥�

Though Gates had limited the sophomores鈥� playing time as they struggled through the core part of the SEC schedule, he never full-on benched them. Robinson and Pierce remained starters and received chances to make an impact early in games. There was plenty of patience and no panic in Gates鈥� tone as he talked about their slumps as something necessary to maturing as players.

鈥淲e just got to make sure these guys get out of their own way,鈥� Gates said earlier this week. 鈥淵ou got to understand, they鈥檙e still young. ... It鈥檚 just that sophomore situation that I think they鈥檙e in.鈥�

Keeping them in the starting lineup and main rotation paid off.

Messing with the starting lineup 鈥� inadvertently, it would seem 鈥� did cost the Tigers at the start of Saturday鈥檚 game. The initial starting lineup posted to the game鈥檚 internal stats service showed freshman center Peyton Marshall starting in place of Mitchell. Though that would鈥檝e given the young big a chance to play close to his hometown of Atlanta (he did receive a cameo appearance late in the second half), it seemed like sitting down the player fresh off a 25-point outing was too surprising to be true.

Because it wasn鈥檛 true. Mizzou intended to use its regular starting lineup, with Mitchell as part of it. But because an incorrect starting five had been submitted, officials called the Tigers for an administrative technical foul before the game began. That meant Georgia shot and made a technical free throw before any time left the clock, leading to the strange sight of a 1-0 score as the game tipped off.

NCAA Tournament bid functionally secured

There won鈥檛 be an official announcement or any real celebration, but Missouri functionally secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament by beating Georgia. It was the Tigers鈥� eighth victory in SEC play, which is the consensus threshold for the league鈥檚 teams to make it.

The bar for this Mizzou team, though, is considerably higher. The Tigers might end up as the favorites 鈥� or at worst, narrow underdogs 鈥� in their final six regular-season games.

And that winnable run of SEC fixtures will not be a race to get past the bubble but instead a push for a top-four seed in the SEC tournament and a similar seed in the NCAA field.