Missouri’s basketball resurgence has been aided by an unlikely ally: free throws

With the absence of Michael Porter Jr., Missouri has needed the little things at times to score points, especially when seniors Kassius Robertson and Jordan Barnett are struggling offensively.

One of the Tigers’ biggest assets on the offensive end this season has been free throws.

As a team, Missouri is shooting 75.7 percent from the charity stripe, which ranks third in the Southeastern Conference. Last season Missouri shot 68.3 percent from the free-throw line.

In the team’s win over No. 21 Tennessee, despite going scoreless from the floor in the game’s final seven minutes, Missouri hit free throws and played strong defense.

Two of the players who’ve made the biggest improvement at the line are Barnett and Blue Springs South grad Kevin Puryear, who were already two of Missouri’s best free-throw shooters.

Barnett is shooting 91.1 percent, roughly a 13 percent increase from last season. Puryear has seen his numbers increase 11 percent to 84.7 percent. In the Tigers’ loss to Auburn, he went 6 for 8 from the line, including the only free throws he’s missed in conference play.

Junior point guard Terrence Phillips, despite his decrease in playing time, has slightly improved to 81.3 percent after being the team’s leading free-throw shooter last season.

The reasons for the increase are all over the place.

Puryear said his increase is purely an increase in his mindset, which might have faltered at times during Missouri’s many losses last season.

“I really think my focus at the line is a lot better than last year,” he said. “Last year at times I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be. Not saying I wasn’t concentrating on making my free throws, but it could have been better.”

Now that Missouri is in the middle of a season in which every game counts, Puryear can’t have an off night at the line because the Tigers have little room for error if they want to make their first NCAA Tournament in five years.

Barnett is ranked No. 13 in the country in free-throw percentage, which he credits for reworking parts of his shot.

“I just think it was a mechanic of me working different shooting mechanics back into my free throw,” he said. “Bending more of the knees, higher release, stuff like that.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Missouri’s basketball resurgence has been aided by an unlikely ally: free throws."