It’s every players dream to get a win on Senior Night and the dream only gets better if the player plays well too. That dream came true for Marcus Watkins as Missouri’s lone senior scored a career-high 15 points leading the Tigers to a 91-82 victory over Colorado Wednesday night.
Watkins was honored before the game and was inserted into the starting lineup. He responded by sparking the Tigers first half effort in building a 21-point lead.
"Sometimes you’ve got to lean on that senior leadership, especially as we get to this part of the season," coach Mike Anderson said. "He’s one of those guys that’s a ‘tweener’ and he hasn’t played as much as he probably wanted, but at the same time he hasn’t said anything."
Matt Lawrence played a huge role in establishing the big lead as well. Lawrence scored all 17 of his points in the first half. He made his first six shots including five 3-pointers.
Colorado came out of halftime confident and jumped out to a 17-4 run cutting their deficit to just three. Fortunately for the Tigers, they were able to wake up in time and keep Colorado at arms length.
"Anytime you get yourself in a hole, it’s tough to come back," Patton said. "Especially on the road, unless you’re just running a fever and making everything you throw up."
Watkins was greeted by a standing ovation as he was removed from the game. He played a more than expected 26 minutes.
"I was hoping I would start on senior night, but I didn’t know until right before the game," Watkins said. "They wanted to win the game real bad for me."
Mizzou improved to 7-8 in the Big 12. A win at Texas A&M Saturday would give the Tigers a .500 record conference record heading into the Big 12 Tourney. If Mizzou beats the Aggies and Texas Tech loses to Iowa State, MU would finish fifth in the conference standings.
AUDIO: Mike Anderson Postgame (3:30 MP3)
