Should Mizzou basketball game have been played on Friday? What Cuonzo Martin thinks
Should Missouri men’s basketball’s game at Mississippi State have been played on Friday night following the Tigers’ travel delays?
Mizzou head coach Cuonzo Martin doesn’t think so.
“No excuses,” Martin said following the 68-49 loss. “But at the end of the day, when you’re trying to prepare for a game the mental edge is just as important. My game routine, my pregame, my rest — all that’s important.
“And to have us at the airport from 8:30 a.m. to almost 2 p.m. (Friday), that’s a long time. I’d rather you push the back game back to Saturday and we play (the series) Saturday, Sunday. Because as a player you just need some balance and as a coach you’re sitting there having your guys in limbo about what’s the next thing.”
The contest was set to tip off at 6 p.m. on Friday but was moved to 8:30 p.m. after the Tigers’ flight out of Columbia — originally scheduled to leave mid-day on Thursday — was delayed multiple times because of weather.
After numerous changes on Thursday, the team then spent much of Friday morning waiting at the airport. Mizzou didn’t arrive in Starkville, Mississippi until late Friday afternoon, around 3:30 p.m.
Martin said he and the team were still waiting to see what was going to happen by the time they got to their hotel around 4:10 p.m. It was determined shortly after that the game would be moved to 8:30 p.m.
“You’d just like to know sooner,” Martin said, “because that’s one thing — we were proactive from the standpoint of let us know sooner so we can prepare.”
The Tigers weren’t able to go through their normal road routine or even have a shoot-around.
“It’s part of it,” Martin said, “You deal with it. We don’t make excuses about it.”
Both teams will have another quick turnaround as they are scheduled to play in Mizzou Arena at 7 p.m. Sunday.
