UPDATED, 11:50 p.m.
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. • Already with a short bench, Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin was a few fouls away from needing some managers and water boys to fill out his rotation Wednesday at Alabama, but the Tigers persevered for a much-needed 69-60 victory over a projected NCAA Tournament team.
Just as important, Mizzou snapped a three-game losing streak.
That explains why Martin strolled an empty hallway deep inside Coleman Coliseum, singing to himself in his deep, rich baritone an undistinguishable but distinctively happy tune.
“Great win for our program,” he said.
That much was undeniable. Martin’s team held the lead in this foul-filled slugfest for more than 35 minutes and unlike past defeats, the Tigers played nearly mistake-free down the stretch, held off Alabama’s potent scorers and survived its own self-inflicted attrition to secure a valuable victory.
“It’s huge, huge,” said Missouri’s Kassius Robertson, who was just that for the Tigers with a team-high 22 points in 39 minutes. “That could have been the start of a real bad skid. We put an end to it. We lost some games we shouldn’t have to some teams we shouldn’t have, but we knew this game was going to be tough.”
The Tigers (14-8, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) did it on the defensive end, holding Alabama (14-8, 5-4) to just six field goals on 27 attempts in the second half and 5 of 20 from 3-point range for the game. Mizzou had its typical bundle of turnovers — 19 giveaways this time — but Alabama didn’t convert them into easy transition baskets. The Tigers controlled the boards with a 37-27 rebounding edge and overcame a 32-15 discrepancy in free throw attempts.
"The physicality of Missouri just overwhelmed us from start to finish,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. “They were physical, they were passionate and I tried to warn our team about this the last couple days in practice, but they didn't respond.”
Months ago this could have been billed as a showdown of McDonald’s All-Americans and 2018 NBA lottery picks, with Michael Porter Jr. leading Missouri into a matchup against Alabama’s Collin Sexton, the nation’s top-ranked point guard recruit.
With Porter still recovering from November back surgery, only Sexton held up his end of the bargain. The nation’s top-rated point guard put on a show on his home floor with 23 points, while Porter, snug in his gray Mizzou sweatsuit, watched helplessly from the bench.
The group originally assembled as Porter’s supporting cast more than held its own as younger brother Jontay Porter added 13 in his new role off the bench and Jeremiah Tilmon came through with 12 points before his fifth foul ended his night early.
Coming off three straight losses by double-digit margins, Martin adjusted his starting lineup and went back to a group he started back in November against Wagner and Utah, replacing guard Jordan Geist and Porter with Cullen VanLeer and Kevin Puryear. With Geist coming off the bench, Robertson moved into the starting point guard role, but Geist was quickly back in at the first media timeout to help guard Alabama’s star freshman.
“I talked to both Jontay and Geist just about trying to get that edge back,” Martin said. “Both guys agreed they didn’t have the level of edge, that fire burning inside them. It showed. Both of them did some good things tonight.”
Coming off the bench seemed to ignite some production from Porter, who made his first three shots and five of his first six and four straight midway through the half, three on mid-range jumpers. Porter’s surge started a 12-3 run for the Tigers, who got consecutive 3-pointers from Jordan Barnett and VanLeer, good for a 31-19 lead before the final media timeout. The Tigers had to play small for long stretches with Tilmon and Porter sitting with two fouls with the two freshmen playing just 15 minutes combined in the half.
But Porter made his presence felt with his rediscovered shooting stroke.
“I guess it was an awakening for me, a rude awakening,” said Porter, who had started six straight games. “Obviously nobody wants to come off the bench if they’re already starting. But I came out and told myself to play with confidence no matter how many minutes I play. The ball just fell for me.”
With Barnett joining them on the bench with two fouls, Alabama pecked away at Mizzou’s lead, finished the half on a 9-2 run and held the Tigers without a field goal for the half’s final 2:52. On Alabama’s final possession, Sexton melted off the last seconds and dropped a buzzer-beating 3-pointer over Geist, trimming MU’s halftime lead to 35-33. The late collapse was all too familiar for the Tigers, who on Saturday gave up five late points to Mississippi State before halftime, then faded in the second half of a 12-point loss.
The officials gave their whistles plenty of work to start the second half, calling nine fouls in the first 3:30, including two more on Porter to give him a lengthy stay on the bench. Porter appeared to get a clean block on his third foul, and the fourth came two possessions later as Martin was trying to sub him out of the game. Fortunately for the Tigers, the whistles blew on both sides of the floor as Sexton drew his third foul four minutes into the half.
Sexton accounted for four of Bama’s six second-half field goals as his running mates could never get comfortable against MU’s smothering halfcourt defense. Freshman sharpshooter John Petty made a layup but missed all five of his 3-pointers. Freshman forward Herbert Jones, coming off a 14-point game against Oklahoma, missed all four of his shots.
Coming into the game, Martin had Alabama scouted as Mizzou’s best ball-screen offense left on the schedule — and the Tigers’ ball-screen defense had struggled in recent weeks.
Not Wednesday.
“They impacted the ball a lot,” Johnson said. “Our spacing wasn't as good, and we didn't have enough guys looking to make plays. We turned down shots. It seemed like we were always trying to pass the ball back to Collin in certain situations instead of make plays. We got stuck too much on offense, the ball stuck too much on one side."
With their interior defense much stronger than the last two games, Martin’s Tigers began to pull away midway through the half as Tilmon and Geist both drew offensive charges in a span of three possessions. Tilmon’s defensive stop inspired Martin to break into a dance on the sideline.
“It worked out for me,” Tilmon said. “I didn’t see him do the dance, though.”
Not long before that possession, Martin had pulled Tilmon off the floor. The big man wasn’t supplying the fight Mizzou needed on the defensive end.
“I didn’t think his effort and focus was there,” Martin said. “He allowed factors to get to him. Our assistants did a great job, talking him through it, getting him ready when his number’s called.”
Back on the bench, Tilmon found a consoling voice from another freshman.
“He was talking to himself negatively,” Jontay Porter said. “I told him, ‘That’s not going to get you out of your slump. You’ve got to talk positive words and positive things words will happen.’ Then he went out and did his thing.”
Quickly back in the game, Tilmon scored three straight baskets on two dunks and a nifty post move against a double team to keep the Tigers in front. Robertson’s 3-point heave off one foot with a hand in his face pushed Mizzou’s lead to 58-50, and one more vicious Tilmon dunk sent some Bama fans headed for the exits. His fifth foul came with 5:19 left before Martin could call a timeout to preserve the freshman center for the final stretch, but by then the damage was done.
“I cleared my mind,” Tilmon said, “and let the game come to me.”
“A lot of freshmen, it’s not going their way early, they kind of sulk,” Robertson said. “They quit. But Tilmon didn’t do that. I told him at halftime, ‘We need you. We need you. We need you.’ He did some big things.”
And Mizzou scored a big win, perhaps, with No. 21 Kentucky coming to Columbia on Saturday, the kind that salvages a season.