Missouri’s Terrence Phillips faces trio of former teammates against NC State

Bragging rights are on the line Saturday for freshman point guard Terrence Phillips more than any other player on Missouri’s roster.

The Tigers host North Carolina State at Mizzou Arena at 5 p.m. It’s a return game from an appearance in Raleigh two seasons ago.

Phillips, who graduated last spring as the all-time assists leader at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, will see a few familiar faces among the Wolfpack.

N.C. State junior forward Lennard Freeman played alongside Phillips during his sophomore season at Oak Hill, while Caleb and Cody Martin, a pair of 6-foot-7 twin swingmen, were Phillips’ teammates his junior season at the Baptist-affiliated basketball factory.

“It’ll be fun to play against them for once in different jerseys,” Phillips said. “It’s always fun to compete, especially against your Oak Hill family. We always talk trash against each other, so it’ll be fun to compete against them.”

Of course, wrapping up his first semester with finals week and not wanting to provide any extra fuel for his former teammates, Phillips said he’s abstained from the regular trash talk this week.

“I think I’ll wait until after the game,” he said with a laugh. “We can talk a little bit after the game, so no sparks get fired.”

More important than bragging rights, Phillips wants to help Missouri remain undefeated at home.

The Tigers, 5-4 overall, are 5-0 at Mizzou Arena and winless everywhere else this season.

Missouri has lost eight straight games against non-conference Power Five opponents dating back to a 68-64 win Dec. 28, 2013, at North Carolina State in Frank Haith’s final season.

Snapping that streak would provide a nice confidence boost for second-year coach Kim Anderson’s rebuilding squad.

“It would be great,” Anderson said. “We’ve got two games coming up against two good teams (including the Braggin’ Rights Game on Dec. 23 against Illinois at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis). Certainly, this is an opportunity for us to see where we stand and see if we’ve improved.”

Anderson believes the Tigers are a much-improved squad from last season, but the record through nine games is identical.

Missouri is coming off an 88-52 throttling at the hands of No. 13 Arizona on Sunday in Tucson, Ariz.

Anderson said the Tigers played a bit intimidated and were embarrassed. It’s similar to the situation after a 24-point loss Nov. 23 against Kansas State during the CBE Classic.

Missouri let that loss linger through much of the first half a day later against Northwestern.

The Tigers can’t afford to start slow against a Wolfpack team led by junior guard Cat Barber, who is the second-leading scorer in the ACC and ranks 20th nationally at 21.1 points per game.

“I think we’ve improved,” Anderson said. “I think we’ve had two steps forward, one step back every once in a while. The K-State game was a bad game. This game Sunday (at Arizona) obviously was a bad game. … Hopefully, we’ll play well (against NC State). Hopefully, we’ll have a good crowd and will execute the way we need to and be able to win the game.”

To make it happen, Missouri needs to do a better job on the boards, preventing opponents’ offensive rebounds and securing its own, while also cutting down the turnovers and personal fouls.

The Tigers rank 238th in the nation at minus-2.0 in extra scoring chances per game and rank 325th among 351 NCAA Division I programs, fouling on 31.6 percent of defensive possessions.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 7:37 PM with the headline "Missouri’s Terrence Phillips faces trio of former teammates against NC State."