Missouri notes: Four freshmen Tigers relish sharing floor against Kentucky

There were stretches Wednesday when Missouri rolled with its four freshmen on the floor at the same time at No. 20 Kentucky.

It’s a lineup Tigers fans might see more of as the season winds down and second-year coach Kim Anderson casts an eye toward the future.

“I don’t know,” freshman forward Kevin Puryear said with a smile. “You’ll have to ask coach Anderson.”

Puryear admitted that the four-freshmen rotation was refreshing and felt natural.

“Definitely, I feel like we have a lot of good chemistry playing together,” he said. “Lots to look forward to down the road.”

Senior Ryan Rosburg and junior Wes Clark have turned in solid seasons, but it’s clear that Missouri’s future success ebbs and flows with the development of the freshmen.

“(Anderson) always says that he wants us to keep learning,” freshman guard K.J. Walton said. “This was definitely a big game for all four freshmen to learn and get better.”

The Tigers were overmatched in an 88-54 loss against the Wildcats, but the freshmen combined for 35 points on 13 of 24 shooting and also grabbed 14 rebounds, half of the team total, and dished four of the team’s seven assists.

Of course, they also realize it wasn’t nearly enough.

“We’re going to have practice (Thursday) and we’re going to have a film session,” Phillips said. “This game happened. But after we watch it, we’ve got to let it go and we’ve got to get ready for Mississippi State. … Guys are tired of losing and we’re going to come out and fight.”

At the very least, there is no quit in Missouri’s freshmen.

“We really don’t have much time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Puryear said. “That’s what I kind of like about this league. It takes a lot of toughness and tests how mentally tough you are.”

By the numbers

18: Losses by 34 points or more in Missouri’s 2,696 games and the length of the Tigers’ current road losing streak in SEC play.

21: Missouri’s current overall losing streak on the road

25: Missouri’s current losing streak against NCAA Division I competition away from Mizzou Arena.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Missouri notes: Four freshmen Tigers relish sharing floor against Kentucky."