Missouri eager for season’s toughest test yet Tuesday at Xavier

Missouri passed its first two tests of the season with flying colors.

The rebuilt Tigers toppled Wofford and Maryland-Eastern Shore by an average of 13.5 points

The task Tuesday becomes much tougher as second-year coach Kim Anderson’s young squad heads out on the road for the first time against a feisty Xavier squad.

“I’m very excited,” Missouri freshman point guard Terrence Phillips said. “I really think we can go in there and kind of steal one. I think if we go in and get that, we can really open some eyes here.”

Anderson’s eyes bugged out Sunday as Phillips spoke during postgame comments after a 73-55 win against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

It wasn’t intended as bulletin-board material. Phillips seemed to be expressing confidence and acknowledging how much a win, especially a road win against a quality opponent, might change the perception of MU basketball more quickly than anyone could have anticipated.

Anderson still tried to walk it back a bit.

“Terrence wasn’t here last year,” Anderson said. “I was here. You all know Xavier is a great basketball program. I know they won their first game the other night, and we’re looking forward to going there to play. I think it’ll be great for our guys. Third game in five days, we’ve got a lot to learn in one day, but I’m sure they’d rather be playing than practicing.”

Missouri played Friday and Sunday with only one day to rest and practice. It worked out fine, but with the same schedule plus a flight thrown in, Anderson’s squad obviously faces a tough task against the Musketeers at Cincinnati’s Cintas Center.

Still, last season’s 74-58 home loss against Xavier provides some motivation.

“Xavier’s a good school — a good, known school — and they really put a bit of a spanking on us last year,” said junior Wes Clark, who scored a team-high 15 in Sunday’s win. “We owe those guys a little bit. We’re going to come out here with the same intensity, looking at them like just another team.”

Missouri, which starts two true freshman and relies on two others heavily in the rotation along with a collection of sophomores, isn’t worried about legs being tired or fatigue affecting Tuesday’s game.

“I feel fine right now, and I think our team feels perfectly fine,” Phillips said. “This is what we prepared for in the summer and what we were in the weight room for — for weeks like this.”

Anderson played 11 guys against Maryland-Eastern Shore. He’s still trying to find the right player combinations.

“Hopefully, we can get that settled,” he said. “Tuesday won’t be a good night to experiment, and this one wasn’t really either. … We’ve got 11 guys that have shown they can contribute, and so we have to figure out the best way to use them.”

Anderson has repeatedly said he loves the freshman class’ energy but also its fearlessness. Missouri certainly isn’t showing any indication its scared to go and play Xavier.

“I came here to play against the best at the highest level, so we’re going to be ready for Xavier,” said freshman guard K.J. Walton, who grew up two hours from Cincinnati.

If anything, the Tigers welcome a new and greater challenge.

“It’s definitely going to be a big test for us,” freshman forward Kevin Puryear, a Blue Springs South graduate, said. “I’m excited personally, because I’ve never done this before. … I love hostile crowds, and I love proving people wrong. When we got to Cincinnati, everybody’s going to be counting us out, so we’ve just got to go there and show what we can do.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Missouri eager for season’s toughest test yet Tuesday at Xavier."