Over the last few weeks the Tigers plunged from second to seventh place in the Southeastern Conference, but Cuonzo Martin’s team might have earned a favorable draw in this week’s conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena, where Mizzou opens Thursday night against No. 10 seed Georgia. Yes, the Bulldogs upset the Tigers 80-70 three weeks ago in one of MU’s exasperating second-half collapses, but it came with a 6-foot-10, 260-pound asterisk.
It was one of two games the Tigers didn’t have senior center Jeremiah Tilmon available during his one-week leave of absence following the death of his grandmother. The other game?