Missouri expected to lean more on Keanau Post

who is in Columbia dealing with personal issues

, for the duration of its SEC Tournament stay.

That means more minutes for several Tigers forwards, most notably junior Keanau Post.

Post, who was a second-team junior college All-American as a sophomore at Southwestern Illinois, struggled adjusting to the Division I level and saw his confidence bottom out.

He didn’t even get off the bench in two games during the heart of SEC play and was only averaging 6.7 minutes before the last three games.

But Post has averaged 16.7 minutes in the last three and has made nine of 10 shots from the field, averaging 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.

“There’s no question that he has really become more assertive here in the latter part of the season,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said.

Look for Post to play a key role at noon Thursday when the Tigers take on Texas A in the second round of the SEC Tournament at the Georgia Dome.

“I think he gives us more presence than any of our other post guys on the defensive end because of his size and his length and the way he moves his feet,” Haith said.

The Missouri-A matchup will be televised in the Kansas City area on KSMO (Ch. 62).

Juniors Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson received another postseason honor Wednesday, this one from the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Brown, who leads the Tigers and the SEC at 19.7 points per game, was a first-team all-District 21 selection (effectively its All-SEC squad), while Clarkson, who averages 18.1 points and 3.5 assists, was a second-team pick.

Brown was joined on the first team by Kentucky’s Julius Randle, Florida’s Scottie Wilbekin, LSU’s Johnny O’Bryant III and Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes.

Clarkson was joined on the second team by Alabama’s Trevor Releford, a Bishop Miege graduate from Kansas City, Florida’s Casey Prather, Tennessee’s Jordan McRae and Auburn’s Chris Denson.

Texas A’s leading scorer, junior Jamal Jones, did not fly to Atlanta with the team, but coach Billy Kennedy was hopeful me might be able to make the trip Wednesday night and be available for the Missouri game.

“They labeled it a bacterial virus and he was admitted (to the hospital Tuesday),” Kennedy said. “I think he just recently got out of the hospital. He’s feeling much better. We’ll know more probably (Thursday).”

But Kennedy left no doubt that Jones would play if he was cleared to travel to Atlanta.

“If he can walk and chew gum, we’re going to play him, because we need him,” Kennedy said. “Our numbers are down a little bit and so we need him to be ready to play.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2014 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Missouri expected to lean more on Keanau Post."