They need a point guard.

A poised guard.

The Missouri Tigers arrived in St. Louis with all this swagger and they were swallowed up and spit out by Illinois, which might not be the better team by season’s end, but sure looked like it with braggin’ rights on the line.

Mizzou turned the ball over 21 times in the 70-64 loss Saturday at Scottrade Center. I think they just turned it over again while I typed that sentence.

But the answer to the problem is, well, part of the problem.

Blake Harris will be the point guard that leads Mizzou to great things. But right now, he’s hit-and-miss, with some painful misses. How many times have we seen it already — the freshman Harris starts the game for Mizzou, but then is overwhelmed and replaced by a turnstile of turnover-prone point guards?

“We’ve got to start learning,” Mizzou’s Kassius Robertson said matter-of-factly. “We had 21 tonight — that’s unacceptable.”

I sure thought Terrance Phillips would be better this season. But we’re at the point where Martin should just keep Harris out there longer, because can he truly rely on Phillips and Jordan Geist in February and March? So Martin might as well ride Harris, even if it’s a bumpy one, because Harris has the highest upside. And with more playing time, like we saw in Saturday’s second half, he can infuse himself into the flow of the game. Shoot, he becomes the flow of the game.

“He utilized his speed and, more than anything, he finished at the rim,” Martin said of Harris, who was scoreless in the first half, scoring 10 points in the second. “It shows you the growth of the player. Often times he finishes with the ball (held out away from the rim). Tonight, he finished at the rim. Because he’s fast — he has the speed at the point guard position to turn the corner. Once you turn the corner, the defense breaks. And I thought he had a lot to do with generating good looks in the second half.”

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The kid from North Carolina clearly has energy and an edge, and you could tell he was brimming with emotions all night, for better or worse.

After being smothered in the first half, he harnessed his energy, and was able to make plays, draw fouls, talk trash and ignite Mizzou.

Harris was 4-for-6 from the field in the second half, in which Mizzou, down 20 after 20 minutes, outscored Illinois, 42-28.

He also got a technical foul for trash talk. After a big play, he sprinted right into the body of an Illinois player, singing some Christmas carols right in the fellow’s face.

“I thought he played with extreme intensity in the second half,” Mizzou’s Jordan Barnett said. “Nobody played with intensity in the first half. That’s why we were down 20 at halftime. Blake definitely brought it in the second half, and that’s what we need every day.”

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The 21 turnovers was frighteningly the same total they had in the game prior, against Stephen F. Austin. It was the most turnovers Mizzou had this season. Twice in the past two games. Prior to that, it was 20 against West Virginia. There’s a trend here. Illinois, Stephen F. Austin and West Virginia play defense with intensity and ire. Heck, Stephen F. Austin played such good defense, Mizzou’s coach Cuonzo Martin went into their locker room after the game to tell them just that.

The Tigers came into Braggin’ Rights thinking they’d get some. The team had played some quality basketball, and that includes performances from Phillips and Geist. But Mizzou’s first half Saturday was disgusting. Revolting. The passive point guards weren’t passing. The Tigers finished the half with just three assists — and 16 turnovers. Including his preposterous turnover in front of the scorer’s table, Geist tallied four in seven first-half minutes, which is hard to do.

I know substitutions can be subtle. There is nuance to how a coach controls the flow. Indeed, Phillips and Geist will play important minutes in the coming months. But what I’m hoping here is that Harris isn’t always looking over his shoulder after a foul or mistake, especially early. He played 22 minutes Saturday, a season-high. Let the kid flow.

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“He needs to settle in (early in games), and the thing I say to him is — recognize his ability,” Martin said. “Speed. Recognizing his strengths. When he turns the corner, it puts pressure on them, especially if someone is defending and denying. You’re taught at a young age, when somebody is pressuring you, spread out.”

Harris epitomized Mizzou’s Saturday. He was part of the problem in the first half and he spearheaded the solution in the second. Again, they were down 20, and had it down to four in the second.

Here’s hoping that by next year’s Braggin’ Rights Game, Harris is a veteran and venerable point guard — a poised guard, even when full-throttling through the lane.