Mizzou’s Terrence Phillips has been indefinitely suspended from basketball team

Missouri’s point guard problems have gotten worse.

The team announced Friday night that junior Terrence Phillips has been suspended indefinitely for a “violation of team policy.”

“Phillips’ future status with the program will be determined in coordination with campus and department leadership,” the team said in a statement.

According to a source, Phillips practiced Friday but did not travel to Mississippi State, where Missouri plays Saturday. Coaches notified Mizzou players of Phillips’ suspension after practice on Friday.

The suspension means the Tigers, who have been looking for answers at point guard all season, are now down to just one man who has played the position prior to this season: junior Jordan Geist. Freshman point guard Blake Harris transferred to North Carolina State during winter break, and graduate transfer Kassius Robertson has taken on more minutes as the backup point guard since.

During his first two seasons at Missouri, Phillips was one of the faces of the program under coach Kim Anderson. He averaged more than 26 minutes per game as both a freshman and sophomore.

But under new head coach Cuonzo Martin, Phillips has become a non-factor for Missouri. In the six games since Harris decided to leave Missouri — during a time when the Tigers have needed point-guard help — Martin has played Phillips less than 10 minutes four times. Phillips, who is from suburban Los Angeles, has averaged 2.5 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game this season.

“We expect him to produce,” Martin said of Phillips earlier this week. “Hopefully we can get to that point.”

In a December interview with The Star about the nonprofit he started in Columbia, Phillips said he cared about Mizzou and the local community. He indicated that he had not seriously considered transferring from MU.

When it announced the indefinite suspension of a football player earlier this week, Missouri used similar wording to what it used in Friday’s announcement.

“We will continue to gather additional information and work with campus and department leadership to determine his future in our program,” read a text message from a football team spokesperson. The team did not disclose the specific reason for that suspension, just as Missouri did not disclose the specific reason for Phillips’ suspension.

Without Phillips and freshman Michael Porter Jr., who is recovering from back surgery, Missouri has just eight available scholarship players.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Mizzou’s Terrence Phillips has been indefinitely suspended from basketball team."