COLUMBIA, MO. • With a chance to climb the conference standings and collect a valuable resumé builder for their March credentials, the Missouri Tigers came into their latest Wednesday showdown with a sizable size advantage against Auburn.
All that height didn’t pay off.
Cuonzo Martin’s team had no answers for No. 19 Auburn’s undersized but speedy, deep-shooting swarm of Tigers in a 91-73 pounding at Mizzou Arena that vaulted Auburn into sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference. With 20 turnovers Martin's Tigers (13-7, 3-4 SEC) played more like the hapless versions of their former selves of the past three years. Auburn (18-2, 6-1), the shortest team in the SEC, gave up size in the paint but very few baskets, finishing the game with nine blocked shots, eight in the first half.
Missouri’s Kassius Robertson scored 19 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, most of those coming well after Auburn took control of the game with a 23-4 run. Jordan Barnett added 19 points for the Tigers, who have lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Mizzou’s deficiencies at point guard were on full display as Auburn’s Jared Harper roasted the Tigers for 21 points and six assists without a single turnover. DeSean Murray, a 6-3 power forward for Bruce Pearl’s vertically challenged team, added 16 points, matched by guard Bryce Brown.
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Against an Auburn team that’s tallest starter is 6-7, Missouri got just two field goals from freshman frontcourt tandem Jeremiah Tilmon (zero points on zero shots in seven foul-filled minutes) and Jontay Porter, who scored five points and rarely exploited his size advantage inside.
“We feel like if we play tougher than any opponent it doesn’t matter the size,” said the 5-10 Harper, the shortest player on the court but the night’s most impressive player. “A lot of us coming up through high school, we were always underestimated and size was a question for a lot of us. But we just use that as fuel to our fire.”
Without 6-11 Austin Wiley and 6-7 Danjel Purifoy, both suspended for their role in last fall’s FBI probe, Pearl has relied on the SEC’s shortest rotation. It’s a team that thrives on an offense built around 3-pointers and free throws. Auburn spreads the floor with its smaller lineup to create driving lanes for its smaller guards, hoping to absorb fouls and find open shooters on the perimeter.
The plan worked to perfection Wednesday. Auburn shot 23 of 26 from the foul line and knocked down 14 3-pointers. Auburn managed to miss nine layups and lost the rebounding battle 41-30 but still cruised to victory with its small-ball approach. Auburn outscored MU 21-8 on second-chance points.
• BOX SCORE: Auburn 91, Mizzou 73
• MIZZOU TALK: Fans sound off about the loss
Harper was the instigator and the finisher. He even banked in a late 3-pointer that he claimed to call before it dropped through the rim.
“He’s extremely quick,” Missouri point guard Jordan Geist said. “He’s also got deep range. You kind of have to pick and choose what you’re going to try and give up and what you’re going to give him. When he comes off ball screens he’s got great vision, so he’s able to make passes.
“He’s tough to guard.”
Auburn’s 91 points were the most the Tigers have allowed under Martin — and the most an opponent has scored on Norm Stewart Court since Arkansas blitzed the Tigers 94-61 on Jan. 12, 2016. Martin’s Tigers had held three of their last four opponents to 60 points or fewer, but the defense unraveled in the second half.
“I’ve said it to our guys all season we’ve got to defend,” said Martin, his deep voice strained after MU’s most lopsided loss of conference play. “We don’t have enough offensively to take days off defensively.”
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It took Mizzou nearly three minutes to score its first points on a Jordan Barnett 3-pointer, but the offense appeared on the verge of eruption — but appearances can be deceiving. After a Jordan Geist 3-pointer pushed Mizzou in front 8-2, the Tigers went four minutes without a field goal as Auburn’s smaller lineup blocked shot after shot, at the rim and on the perimeter. Anfernee McClemore had five of Auburn’s eight blocks in the half. Mizzou’s size advantage was neutralized for most of the half as Tilmon played only two minutes before picking up his second foul.
Barnett, coming off Saturday’s listless showing at Texas A&M, became Mizzou’s offense for much of the first half, scoring 12 of the Tigers’ first 18 points, all on 3-pointers. But MU’s turnover problems resurfaced midway through the half, especially with Terrence Phillips at the controls of the offense. Phillips followed up a double dribble by losing the ball in the backcourt, leading to an easy Auburn fastbreak.
Auburn didn’t let up. Two straight Geist jumpers stalled Auburn’s tidal wave, but MU couldn’t make consistent stops on the defensive end. Mustapha Heron soared past Barnett for an alley-oop jam, followed by McClemore’s dunk and Harper’s 3-pointer off an offensive rebound. Auburn led by as many as nine points, though MU manufactured a few scores down the stretch by pushing the ball upcourt, including a Robertson dunk in transition. Porter banked in a 3-pointer in the final minute to trim Auburn’s lead to 41-36 at halftime.
Mizzou opened the second half with a miserable start. Tilmon turned the ball over on three of Mizzou’s first four possessions, including his fourth foul just less than two minutes into the half. His third foul came on the defensive end, a reckless attempt to block Brown’s 3-pointer on the wing. Instead, Brown sank all three free throws.
“I’ve told the guys, ‘When you foul 3-point shooters it’s almost like you’re in elementary school,’” Martin said. “That can’t happen. That’s him not being mentally locked in. You can’t make those type mistakes when you’re trying to get back in the game.”
Why did Martin keep Tilmon on the floor with three fouls?
“Why not?” he said, laughing out of exasperation. “I mean, you knew the end result, so why not? At some point he’s got to play and go through it. He’s got to learn and fight through it. What was the worst-case scenario? He fouls out.”
Somehow, though, Mizzou exploded out of the first media timeout as back-to-back Barnett and Robertson 3-pointers got the Tigers within a point and sent a jolt through the crowd.
That was as close as Missouri would get. Auburn unleashed its 23-4 run in barely six minutes, starting with 3-pointers from three different shooters, then a Herron steal from Barnett and an uncontested dunk to give Auburn its first double-digit lead of the game, 64-54. After two more Mizzou turnovers, Harper followed with consecutive deep 3-pointers. And with 7:45 left, Auburn up 70-54, Mizzou fans headed for the exits, unwilling to watch the final minutes of the carnage.
“We just completely lost control,” Barnett said.