COLUMBIA, MO. • The day began with more Michael Porter Jr. intrigue, but for 40 minutes Saturday night, the Missouri basketball team was all about the players on Norm Stewart Court.
With a 77-67 win over Arkansas, the Tigers reached 20 victories for the season, clinched a winning record in Southeastern Conference play, wrapped up the No. 5 seed in this week’s SEC tournament and all but certainly punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
All of which led to a moment of reflection and candor for the man behind the turnaround season. After inheriting pieces of a program that averaged nine wins the last three years and then promptly lost four players during the season, including the nation’s top-ranked recruit, first-year coach Cuonzo Martin admitted he didn’t expect this group to reach these heights.