That was Mizzou’s approach Saturday, perhaps to distract attention from what’s been a bummer of a basketball season. Nostalgia is still undefeated at Mizzou Arena, and as some of the program’s great players lined up on Norm Stewart Court for a halftime ceremony — including rarely seen former stars Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert — the 8,539 in attendance got to forget for a while the Tigers trailed the worst team in the Southeastern Conference by nine points.
“Slow start to say the least,” Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin later said.
But for once, a furious finish. Martin’s Tigers refused to go out with a whimper and pulled away from Georgia 79-69, snapping their six-game losing streak to end the regular season.