With game on the line, Cuonzo Martin turns to player he trusts most and Mizzou wins
Missouri’s 72-70 triumph at Florida came down to a matter of Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin’s trust, and that player was identified during a timeout with the score tied and 15 seconds remaining.
Dru Smith.
“If he needs to make the pull-up, if he needs to make the pass, he’s tough enough, physical enough,” Martin said.
That set the stage for the biggest individual play of Missouri’s men’s basketball season Wednesday night. Smith took the pass from Xavier Pinson on the right wing and started to make his move with less than five seconds remaining. Smith had good position on Florida’s Tre Mann and the Gators’ help defense didn’t get there in time.
Smith went under the basket and reversed the layup. Seven-tenths of a second remained.
“Maybe late in the game, not at the end,” Smith said when asked the last time he scored what essentially was a buzzer beater.
Florida took a timeout, but the long inbounds pass didn’t connect and the Tigers, who entered the game having lost four of five, pulled out its best victory since defeating Alabama on Feb. 6.
The Gators entered the game with similar credentials as Mizzou but on a three-game winning streak. When Florida jumped to a 7-0 lead, visions of the Tigers’ losing trend appeared.
But Missouri answered with an 8-0 run, and most of the rest of the night the Tigers (15-7, 8-7 SEC) offered a reminder of the tough-minded team that built NCAA Tournament credentials throughout the season.
The defense was outstanding. Smith came up with six steals, along with nine assists and 17 points in a phenomenal stat line, and the Tigers hounded Florida in many of their 15 first-half turnovers.
For the game, Mizzou scored 18 points on the Gators’ 18 turnovers.
“When we play on our heels we’re not a very good team,” Martin said. “We have to be aggressive, be assertive, shut down passing lanes and force guys to make plays. I thought we did that for the most part.”
Although Missouri led by 36-29 at the break and never trailed in the second half, the Tigers had to sweat it out.
The game seemed in hand when on successive possessions Kobe Brown got a stick back and Mitchell Smith buried a three-pointer on his way to a career best 14 points.
The lead was eight with 2:25 remaining. But the Gators fought back, and when Dru Smith missed a contested jumper from the free throw area with 19 seconds remaining, Jeremiah Tilmon fouled on the rebound. Tilmon, with a solid 12-point effort, had fouled out for only the second time this season.
Florida’s Colin Castleton made both free throws to tie the score, setting up the Tigers’ final possession. Martin turned to Smith with a challenge.
“I said, ‘Hey, man, c’mon now, be the player you’re supposed to be,’” Martin said.
If Smith didn’t get the look there were options, but time was draining and the decision to drive was already made.
Mitchell Smith was confident the ball was in the right hands.
“That’s Dru Smith,” Mitchell Smith said. “At the end of the day, I have the most confidence in Dru. He ran the play exactly how coach wanted him to and he put a little a little flair on it with the up and under.”
Ball game, with a touch of elegance.
“You saw us jumping around out there even though the game wasn’t over,” Mitchell Smith said.
It turned out, Martin seemed to have more faith in Smith than he did in himself.
“Honestly, he’s gone to me at the end of games a couple of times and I made bad plays,” Smith said. “I didn’t know if he was going to come back to me at the end of this game and I appreciate him trusting me to have the ball in my hands again.
“Just doing the right things every day in practice, just kind of building that relationship that trust is why he came to me at the end.”