COLUMBIA, Mo. — There’s the newfound group of five who start each half. There’s the combination that should work on paper but hasn’t done as well on the floor. And there’s the set that outscores opponents by almost a point per minute of game time when it gets to work together.
Through seven Southeastern Conference games, No. 20 Missouri — up a couple of spots in the latest Associated Press poll — has won five games and lost two to sit third in the league as the Tigers enter an idle round with a week between games.
In that span, Mizzou coach Dennis Gates has deployed 103 different lineups — some playing a few minutes at a time together, others only getting a possession before another substitution.