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Mizzou basketball lands Mark Smith who leaves Illinois after one season

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Mark Smith is coming to play for Missouri basketball after all.  The Edwardsville guard chose Illinois over Missouri in recruiting last year but has now decided to transfer from the Fighting Illini to the Tigers after one season.  Smith will have to sit out the 2018-19 campaign, but will then have three years of eligibility remaining.

Smith started 19 of 31 games for Illinois and averaged 19 per minutes per game, scoring 5.8 points per game.

According to Mitchell Forde of PowerMizzou.com, Smith made his decision to transfer based on his relationship with head coach Cuonzo Martin with Forde quoting Smith as saying he “wasn’t going to make another mistake not playing for him.”

#Mizzou gets much needed help with point guard commitment

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The Mizzou men’s basketball team has point guard help on the way.   Xavier Pinson on Wednesday morning signed on with the Tigers, kicking off the spring signing period.

Pinson is from Simeon High School in Chicago. He’s a 6’2 guard and 247Sports ranks him the No. 64 point guard in the class.  He joins 4-star shooting guard Torrence Watson from St. Louis in Mizzou’s class of 2018.

The spring signing period will remain open until May 16.

Jontay declares for NBA draft, but doesn’t hire an agent

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Mizzou basketball freshman forward Jontay Porter declared for the NBA draft, but has not hired an agent.  This leaves open the possibility of a return to Mizzou for his sophomore season.

Porter announced his decision in a tweet on the Mizzou basketball team’s account.

Jontay must decide by May 30 to enter the draft or return to school in order to retain his college eligibility. The draft is June 21 in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Michael Porter Jr. announced last week that he will enter the NBA draft and signed with Priority Sports, choosing to forego his college eligibility.

Michael will likely be a high lottery pick while Jontay has been projected as a late first- or early second-round pick.

#Mizzou women’s basketball lands 8th grader

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photo via Twitter @addison_potts3

Long before she even studies for her first high school biology exam or figures out if lunch is the fourth or fifth hour,  14-year old Addison Potts of Ft. Myers, Florida knows where she is playing college basketball.  She’s headed to the University of Missouri.  On Tuesday, Mizzou women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton learned the 5’10 eighth-grader wants to play for the Tigers.  Mizzou was one of seven schools to already offer Potts a scholarship.

Potts will start high school this fall and received offers as far back as last summer after completing 7th grade from Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Colorado, South Florida and Florida Gulf Coast, who just knocked Mizzou out the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Mizzou finished the season with a 24-8 record.

Michael Porter Jr, “thankful to be part of a special group,” but announces he’s leaving #Mizzou for #NBADraft (VIDEO)

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Michael Porter Junior has announced he’s leaving Missouri after his freshman season.  He only played 53 minutes during this one year with the Tigers.  The six-foot-10 forward had back surgery after playing just two minutes in Mizzou’s season opener.  There no word yet on if his brother Jontay Porter will enter the draft as well.

🙏🏼

A post shared by Michael Porter Jr. (@mpj) on

#Mizzou men’s season ends in Nashville and now fans wait on the Porters to decide (AUDIO)

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The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team showed the same grit and character in the second half that they have all season, rallying from a 22-point first half deficit to trim Florida State’s lead down to six, but it wasn’t enough as the Seminoles pulled away for a 67-54 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Mizzou finishes Cuonzo Martin’s first season at 20-13, a twelve-win improvement over last year.

Kassius Robertson had 19 points for Missouri. Michael Porter Jr. scored 16 in what might be his final college game.  To blame the loss on Michael would be wrong.  He did all he could in just his second game back from surgery that caused him to miss the entire regular season.

Younger brother Jontay and fellow freshman Jeremiah Tilmon struggled against Florida State’ strong interior game.  The big freshman for Mizzou went a combined 1-for-9 from the field with four total points, eight rebounds and nine fouls.  Tilmon fouled out.  His season ended in frustration as he felt a couple of calls should have been whistled against him.

Not only will the Tiger faithful need to wait upon Michael to make his decision, but there is also the possibility that Jontay could leave for the NBA.  It is a goal of his, but whether that happens now or he returns to Mizzou for a second season will be determined later as well.

What #Mizzou needs to do to advance past Florida State

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Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr. lays the basketball in for two points in the first half against Georgia in the SEC Tournament game at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on March 8, 2018. Photo by BIll Greenblatt/UPI

When the players from Missouri say they’ve only seen a little bit of Florida State and in return they say they haven’t seen much video of the Tigers, it will be difficult for me to lay out what type of strategy Mizzou needs to employ in order to get past the Seminoles in this first round NCAA Tournament game on Friday night from here in Nashville.

However, after discussing the game with those who cover Florida State, listening to their players speak yesterday and what I know about the Tigers…I can lay out my “keys to a win.”

Let’s talk about the game tonight on Twitter.  Follow me @Missourisports

The biggest concern is depth.  Florida State has ten players that logged an average of no fewer than 11 minutes per game and five players with 24 or more minutes per game.  Mizzou had ten of those players who also played no fewer than 11 minutes per game, but here’s what has happened.

Blake Harris transferred.  Terrance Phillips suspended. Cullen VanLeer, injured. Jordan Barnett suspended.  That leaves Mizzou with just five players who have put any significant court time in plus Michael who says he is better than the 60 or 70% he claimed to be in St. Louis for that Georgia game,

In short, the Tigers have to stay out of foul trouble.  If they run into the same issues they had in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, they won’t have the ball for the final shot against Florida State.  The Seminoles will blow them out.  They are a much better team than Georgia.

Mizzou will have to get gritty.  Much like the Tigers, Florida State prides themselves on strong defense yet some knock them for their inability to protect the three-point shot.  It’s important to get Jeremiah Tilmon and Kevin Puryear looks inside.  Puryear has to be aggressive.  Given opportunities to drive to the rim, he must do so. There might be some shot blocks or misses, but the Tigers have to make Christ Koumadje (1.6 blocks per game) and Ike Obiagu (2.2 blocks per game) work.

Kassius Robertson needs an all-around better game.  He didn’t shoot the ball well and Cuonzo Martin said he didn’t have a good game defensively in the loss to Georgia.  The senior has been asked to do a lot, but they need him on both ends of the floor.  If Kassius is the main focus of Florida State’s defense…in other words if their goal is to shut him down and not get open, he should become the point guard and work to get the Porter’s open on the outside.

Given what the last three weeks have been like for Jontay Porter, people are talking about him, but I really believe he’ll have a big game again.  Florida State will be geared towards limiting Kassius and slowing down Michael, but if the big stage nerves don’t get to Jontay, he’ll have open looks from long range and he should try to get inside as well.  Florida State’s thought process may be to let Jontay score his points, but slow Michael and Kassius and they can win.

Then when Reed Nikko and Brett Rau come off the bench, they have to be invisible to us…the media and the fans.  What I mean by that is they are not going to score much, they won’t be big impact players.  Rebound, play good defense, don’t turn the ball over.  Eat up a couple of minutes at a time and don’t get exposed.

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Mizzou women grab 5-seed. (Pingeton, Cunningham, Porter VIDEO)

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The Mizzou women gained their highest seeding since the NCAA championships moved to a 64-team bracket, locking down the 5-seed in the Lexington Region. No. 5 Mizzou (24-7) will face No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast (30-4) on Saturday, March 17, in Stanford, CA. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The winner will take on either No. 4 Stanford or No. 13 Gonzaga in the Second Round on Monday, March 19.

Mizzou’s selection in this season’s Big Dance is the 12th in program history and the third under head coach Robin Pingeton. The Tigers have six all-time NCAA Tournament wins, with five of those coming by single digits, including Mizzou’s 66-64 triumph over South Florida last season.

Mizzou enters the NCAA Tournament having won 24 games, the most victories in a season since 1983-84. Sophie Cunningham talks about the team’s chances out west.

For the first time since 2001, the Mizzou men and women will be appearing in the NCAA’s together. Perhaps for the first time, four siblings will be in the NCAA Tournament at the same time. Michael Jr and Jontay for the men and sisters Cierra and Bri, who is a senior. Three of the four will suit up and play this weekend.

#Mizzou will play Florida State at 8:45 p.m. on Friday. Jordan Barnett ruled out for that first game (VIDEO)

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Kevin Puryear battles for the ball at the SEC Tournament in St. Louis (photo/Bill Greenblatt/UPI)

The Missouri Tigers earned the 8-seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament and will open play against 9-seed Florida State on Friday in Nashville.  The approximate tip-off time is 8:45 p.m. CT.  If Mizzou wins they will advance to a Sunday game most likely against 1-seed Xavier.

Mizzou head coach Cuonzo Martin confirmed that senior Jordan Barnett will be suspended for the game on Friday, following his arrest this past Saturday for DWI.  Martin said Barnett will travel with the team and has not made a decision beyond the Tigers first-round game.

Watch Cuonzo Martin:

Mizzou is one of eight SEC teams to make the tournament, the second most of any conference.  The ACC led all conferences with nine. Florida State is one of those teams.

The Seminoles were 20-11 and 9-9 in ACC play. Florida State will have just as much motivation for this win as Missouri.  They were knocked out of last year’s tournament in the second round after losing to Xavier.

Cuonzo on making the 8-seed

Martin has now led three different programs to NCAA Tournament appearances, becoming the 59th different head coach to do so after his prior trips with Tennessee (NCAA Sweet 16, 2013-14) and California (NCAA First Round, 2015-16).

Mizzou’s selection to this season’s Big Dance is the 27th in program history. Martin is the third first-year Mizzou head coach all-time to lead the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament appearance, with Quin Snyder and Frank Haith accomplishing the feat in 2000 and 2012, respectively.

Kevin Puryear, Kassius Robertson and Jontay Porter comment on their NCAA bid

Early exit gives #Mizzou time to work Porter Jr back into the offense

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Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr. scores in the SEC Tourament. Photo by BIll Greenblatt/UPI

Poor shooting, foul trouble, at times lackluster defense and an offense that looked out of sorts with the return of Michael Porter Jr.  There were many issues in the Missouri Tigers 62-60 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

The good news is now Porter has a game under his belt and at least a week for Cuonzo Martin to weave a projected lottery pick back into a system that still must rely on output from Kassius Robertson and Jordan Barnett.

Georgia head coach Mark Fox was proud of the way his team defended the Tigers.  Mizzou was held to 34% shooting including just 8-of-25 from three-point range.  My biggest issue was Michael shooting too much and Kassius Robertson and Jordan not shooting enough.

Porter finished with 17 attempts and the two seniors combined to finish with just 18.  During Georgia’s 16-0 run in which the Tigers went nearly eight minutes without a point, Robertson says he wasn’t frustrated by his lack of attempts.