Mizzou Tigers are one and done in NCAA Tournament with loss to Florida State
A season that began with high aspirations of a deep NCAA Tournament run led by Michael Porter Jr. ended with a first-round exit and a number of “what-ifs.”
The eighth-seeded Missouri Tigers dropped their first NCAA Tournament game in five years to Florida State, a No. 9 seed, 67-54 Friday night in a game in which Cuonzo Martin’s squad had only eight available players, one of whom was a still-rusty Porter.
“We played our butts off,” Porter said. “We started getting tired. We were right there. It’s tough.”
Missouri, which lost in the first round for the fourth straight time in the tournament, tried to take advantage of Florida State’s poor three-point defense by shooting its first three shots of the night from behind the arc.
The first two, by graduate transfer Kassius Robertson and junior point guard Jordan Geist, went in. Not much else did after that the rest of the half, which ended with MU making just five of 23 field goals and trailing 42-20.
The Seminoles gave Missouri its own problems from deep, as they shot 63 percent on threes in the first half. The Tigers opened the game in a 2-3 zone to dare coach Leonard Hamilton’s squad to shoot, and switched to man-to-man in the second half after getting punished for it.
Porter, who was playing in his second game since returning from back surgery, forced shots all over the floor in the half and continued to look rusty. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting for his first career double-double.
Missouri did itself no favors with depth. The Tigers came into the game with eight available players after senior wing Jordan Barnett was suspended for an arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Robertson said Missouri missed Barnett’s presence “everywhere.”
The Tigers' bench got even shorter after freshman Jeremiah Tilmon picked up his second foul with 14:35 left in the first half. Jontay Porter joined him with 7:55 left, which forced Martin to play both with two fouls towards the end of the half.
After the Tigers missed seven consecutive shots, senior walk-on Brett Rau snapped Missouri’s scoring drought with a three-point play off a layup to cut the Seminoles' lead to two with 13:07 left. In his final college game, Rau had a career-high in minutes (12) and tied his career-high in points (three).
Florida State took advantage of MU's poor defense and foul trouble to extend its lead to 10 points with 11 minutes left in the half. Missouri cut the deficit to five after a Robertson three with 9:32 left but didn't get any closer.
The Seminoles scored 10 points in the first half off turnovers, one for each of Missouri’s miscues, and shot 63 percent from three-point range as Florida State went on a 13-0 run and took 22-point lead into halftime.
While addressing the team in the locker room, Martin wrote “FIGHT” on his whiteboard, and he urged the team to play with more passion and fire in the second half.
“That first half, I was very angry, because we didn't show fight,” Martin said. “I don't — like I said to the guys, you fight, I don't have to worry about what the scoreboard says because I can see the effort.”
Porter Jr., whose return made many analysts consider Missouri to be a potential Sweet 16 team, struggled to find his way in just his second game back after what had previously appeared to be season-ending back surgery.
He airballed two of his four shots in the first half, seemed to lack effort on defense — especially on the fast break — and at times appeared frustrated with his teammates. Porter Jr. said after the game he was second-guessing himself at times.
“He made a couple of boneheaded mistakes.” Jontay Porter said of his brother. “That’s what’s going to happen if you aren’t playing the whole season.”
Robertson gave Missouri energy right out of halftime, drilling three three-pointers to help cut the Seminoles' deficit to 13 in the opening minutes. He finished with a game-high 19 points.
The Tigers' defense buckled down and held Florida State scoreless for 3 minutes while Kevin Puryear and Porter Jr. added layups through traffic to whittle the deficit to 11.
Missouri reduced the deficit to eight when Robertson drilled his fourth three of the half with 10:50 left. A pair of Porter Jr. free throws got the deficit to as low as six with 9:53 remaining.
“(Kassius) was playing like it was his last game,” Jontay Porter said. “Which it ended up being.”
After Missouri made it a two-possession game, the Tigers appeared to run out of gas.
The team’s lack of depth caught up with a number of players, who appeared winded as the Seminoles went on a 13-0 run over a 4-minute span and put the game out of reach.
“By the time that happened,” Tilmon said of the team’s run, “all of us were dead tired.”
After the game, Martin told his team he was proud of the way they played in the second half, after they appeared to lack passion throughout the first half.
Missouri made it back to the tournament despite Porter Jr. missing the entire regular season, a pair of transfers and ACL tears, a Title IX investigation and having only one scholarship point guard for its last 11 games.
The team was left to wonder what could have been had Porter Jr. been healthy, Barnett suited up and Missouri had the depth it started the season with.
“It’s nice to get over that hump,” Porter Jr. said. “”But at the same time, we felt this was a team that could have gone beyond just making the tournament.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 11:58 PM with the headline "Mizzou Tigers are one and done in NCAA Tournament with loss to Florida State."