Will Mizzou’s Mark Smith play against Auburn? Coach Cuonzo Martin thinks so

Missouri sophomore guard Mark Smith is expected to make his return to the basketball court when the Tigers face Auburn on Wednesday night in Alabama.

Smith injured his ankle in Mizzou’s loss at Arkansas last Wednesday and missed Saturday’s game against LSU.

On Tuesday, MU coach Cuonzo Martin didn’t go as far to say Smith will play, but said he would be more surprised if Smith didn’t.

“I think so,” Martin said. “He didn’t do a lot today. That was more precautionary.”

The 6-foot-3 sophomore is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and its top three-point shooter at 47.5 percent, which ranks sixth nationally and leads all Power Five players.

Perhaps more importantly, Smith isn’t one of MU’s turnover liabilities, which will be big against Auburn. Bruce Pearl’s squad specializes in the press and is atop the KenPom rankings for defensive turnover percentage with 26.1.

LSU’s ability to force turnovers helped it erase a 14-point deficit in the final 2:14 of Saturday’s game, but Martin pointed to MU’s defense and free-throw shooting more than the press or the questionable calls as factors in Mizzou’s overtime loss.

Junior guard Skylar Mays released his inner Reggie Miller on Missouri, scoring nine straight points during Missouri’s collapse. Martin said if Missouri’s defense was better on him, the game might have ended differently.

“We broke down on the other side of the ball,” Martin said. “It’s not like they had to work to score.”

Missouri’s turnover issues cost the Tigers against LSU and Arkansas recently, and was a major issue for last season’s team as well.

Martin said his program’s turnover issues have been the No. 1 topic amongst his coaching staff, as they continue to work on it.

Senior Jordan Geist attributed some of the team’s issues to its youth, but noted that some of MU’s previous losses have made younger players realize how careful they have to be with the ball.

“We kind of hurt ourselves and cost a chance to compete with those teams because of the turnovers,” Geist said.

Smith’s return would certainly be a good place to start.

This story was originally published January 29, 2019 at 5:22 PM.