Mizzou basketball starts ugly, blasts Liberty in second half. Braggin’ Rights up next
The Missouri Tigers started sloppy, letting Liberty take a double-digit lead in an upset bid. But the Tigers prevailed with a dominant second half effort for a 69-60 win Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.
It was a slow start for the Tigers reminiscent of last season as they faced a halftime deficit for the first time this fall.
Part of that was on shooting as the Tigers (4-0) missed their first eight three-pointers while the Flames (4-3) — known for their three-point volume — had no trouble knocking down threes. But there were self-inflicted mistakes, too, including 10 MU turnovers in the first half.
MU cleaned all of that up and more in the second half. The Tigers outscored the Flames 41-28 in the final 20 minutes to cruise to a relatively comfortable win by the final buzzer.
“It was like taking a math exam for me,” MU coach Cuonzo Martin said after the game. “Knew I had to pass that class, but boy, it was a good one.”
It was the Dru Smith show when the Tigers needed him as he finished with 14 points. But Mark Smith brought it home with his three-point shooting. Mark Smith, the reigning SEC player of the week, started the game 0 for 4 on threes. Then he made his next four three-pointers.
Mark and Dru Smith have scored in double figures in all four of Mizzou’s games this season. MU guard Xavier Pinson added 12 points and seven rebounds, though he had six turnovers in a mixed effort Wednesday.
Liberty was led by forward Blake Preston who had 12 points and five rebounds.
Next up for the Tigers is No. 6 Illinois for the annual Braggin’ Rights game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena. The Illini are the marquee opponent of MU’s nonconference schedule, fresh off an impressive 83-68 win over No. 10 Duke. Mizzou football hosts No. 9 Georgia on Saturday, at 11 a.m.
“Team that played hard, tough, physical, executing,” Martin said of Liberty. “One that we had the experience to schedule. We knew it would be that. Grateful to get the win and I thought our guys did a great job really adjusting in the second half.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 9:20 PM.