Missouri has played better in its past three conference games.
The Missouri men’s basketball team lost its fourth straight Big 12 Conference game Jan. 15 at Kansas. Since then, however, the Tigers have not come close to losing, beating Colorado and Texas Tech by double-digits.
Whether coming within a couple shots of beating the Jayhawks boosted their confidence of not, the Tigers (13-6, 2-4 Big 12) have not looked like the same team that struggled in their first three conference games.
The offense has been crisper, the defense has been more aggressive and the results have been better.
“We came out against K-State and we were real lackadaisical, we came out real sluggish,” forward Marshall Brown said. “I think the last three games we’ve come out real hard and there’s more of a sense of urgency.”
That was especially apparent during the first 11 minutes of the second half of Saturday’s victory over Texas Tech. Missouri did not allow the Red Raiders to score a point until more than nine minutes had passed in the second half.
Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said he didn’t know why his team couldn’t make a shot in that stretch.
“You know, if I knew that, I’d be talking to George Bush today and helping him instead of being here,” Knight said. “You never know what the answer to that is. They obviously played pretty well defensively. We missed some shots that we had. It’s not that simple.”
BRING IN DA NOISE: Mizzou Arena was sold out Saturday for the first time since Jan. 16 of last year. The announced attendance was 15,061, but there were patches of empty seats in the upper deck. Still, the big crowd provided Missouri its best home-court advantage of the season. The crowd was so loud that it was the first thing Anderson mentioned in his postgame press conference.
“First of all, I want to thank the fans for coming out in numbers,” Tigers coach Mike Anderson said. “I tell you what, atmosphere makes a big difference, and you saw our guys take it up to another level.”
The atmosphere at Mizzou Arena included an impersonator of Knight. The fan, sitting (standing, actually) in the student section, wore khaki pants, a black sweater and a gray wig, trying to look like the Texas Tech coach.
“I think it really helps,” Brown said of a loud crowd. “And you can hear it, anytime you make a shot the arena gets really loud. I mean, that arena gets really loud when people start cheering for you.”
Not only was Saturday’s game the first sell-out this season, it was only the second time this season Missouri drew over 10,000 fans to a game. And, despite saying earlier in the week he doesn’t worry about the crowd, Keon Lawrence acknowledged there’s a different feeling to playing in front of a big crowd.
“Man, it’s so much fun, man,” Lawrence said. “I can’t say it enough. I’m so happy they came out. All the fans came out and showed us, like, love and supported us tonight. That really got us into the game.”
THE COOLERS: Before losing to Missouri, Texas Tech (15-6, 4-2 Big 12) had won consecutive
games against top-10 teams Kansas and Texas A&M. They were also tied for first in the conference, but fell into a three-way tie for fourth with Oklahoma State (18-3, 4-2 Big 12) and Kansas State (15-6, 4-2 Big 12).
“That always gives you something to shoot for,” Brown said. “We just felt really confident going into the game that we were going to get a win.”
Missouri is tied for eighth in the Big 12 with Iowa State (11-9, 2-4 Big 12).