Jabari Brown drives around Sindarius Thornwell for two of his team high 24 points. (photo/Mizzou Athletics)
Jabari Brown had 24 points and a career-best six assists and Jordan Clarkson added 22 points, helping Missouri handle South Carolina with an 82-74 victory on Saturday in front of a season high 12,033 at Mizzou Arena. Mizzou started the game on an 11-0 run and didn’t allow USC to score until the 15:44 mark.
The Tigers got a little sloppy with the ball toward the end of the game, and let a 20-point lead dwindle to six, but Frank Haith was quick to point out that in SEC play, “you don’t lead by 20 and beat a team by 40…give South Carolina some credit.”
Mizzou Audio Frank Haith, Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson (8:00)
What Mizzou did well is play solid defense, especially in the first half as the Gamecocks were held to just seven field goals and 26% shooting. The Tigers also shared the basketball, finishing with 18 assists. The only consistent player for USC was Brenton Williams, who had a career-best seven 3-pointers and a season-best 32 points. Sindarius Thornwell fouled out late and had 14 points after totaling 25 points the previous two games.
The Tigers look to get above .500 in the SEC when they travel to Arkansas on Tuesday.