COLUMBIA, Mo. — For weeks Cuonzo Martin has looked forward to seeing his Missouri basketball team play a live game in front of a real crowd. He got his wish Friday night, sort of. The product on Norm Stewart Court wasn’t exactly an instant classic.
In front of a spotty Mizzou Arena crowd, the Tigers slogged through an ugly start in their one and only preseason exhibition, erased a halftime deficit and comfortably held off Division II Central Missouri 80-56.
Mizzou faced Creighton in a closed scrimmage last Saturday, but this was the first unveiling of Martin’s retooled lineup, a lineup that featured four new players in his 11-man rotation.