COLUMBIA, MO. • It’s been 11 days since the Missouri men’s basketball team last played a game — just how Cuonzo Martin likes it. The Tigers’ first-year coach would like to see a rule that reflects his team’s unique schedule and gives college teams time off between Christmas and New Year’s.
When they tip off Wednesday at South Carolina, the Tigers will play their first game since the Dec. 23 Braggin’ Rights Game against Illinois.
“That’s the one time of year kids need to be with their family and away from (basketball) … because you don’t get these days back when it’s all said and done,” Martin said Tuesday. “We can make games up, but you can’t make these days up, time with your family.”
Martin believes this is the longest in-season layoff he’s had between games since he played at Lincoln High School in East St. Louis.
“And I’m 46 years old,” he quipped.
Break time is officially over at 8 p.m. Wednesday when Martin’s Tigers (10-3) dig in for the grind of conference play — against the team nobody across the SEC enjoys playing, especially in Columbia, S.C. The playing rotation for Frank Martin’s South Carolina Gamecocks (9-4, 0-1 SEC) barely looks like the lineup that last March reached the Final Four for the first time in school history, but the grueling style of play is familiar, even for MU’s Martin, who last coached in the SEC in 2013-14.
“They’re tough, they’re physical, they make it hard on you,” said MU’s Martin, who was 3-0 as Tennessee’s coach in head-to-head matchups with South Carolina’s Martin. “They don’t back down. With Frank’s guys, it’s not so much what year in school they are. They’ll compete, they’ll battle. I think they have seven or eight new guys, but when you come off of playing in a Final Four, then it’s passed down to (younger players), what it looks like when you’re talking about great programs, establishing an identity.”
Only six of Mizzou’s scholarship players have experienced conference play in the SEC. They’ve spent the last few days teaching the Tigers’ newcomers about what to expect the next nine weeks.
“I asked them what’s going to be our hardest competition,” freshman center Jeremiah Tilmon said. “They were like, ‘Every game.’”
Though the Gamecocks haven’t played at the same level of elite defensive efficiency they displayed last season when they set a program record with 26 wins, Frank Martin’s team still specializes in making life miserable for opposing ball-handlers. That’s been the Tigers’ greatest weakness lately. Mizzou turned the ball over at least 20 times in three of its last seven games, against West Virginia, Stephen F. Austin and Illinois, including 21 giveaways in the six-point loss to the Fighting Illini. South Carolina, too, will pressure Mizzou’s ball-handlers from the opening tip.
Reckless play from Mizzou’s point guards has contributed to a bulk of the turnovers, though Martin also cited his forwards’ struggles to cleanly meet passes. He shared some of the blame, too.
“There are some adjustments I have to make as a coach to put them in position,” he said, “because it’s one thing to say, ‘Get open,’ but you’ve really got to work on putting them in position so they can get open.”
When it comes to West Virginia, Stephen F. Austin, Illinois and now South Carolina, there’s some common coaching DNA in all four opponents. Frank Martin and Illinois’ Brad Underwood both served as assistants under West Virginia’s Bob Huggins back at Kansas State. Underwood later coached under Martin at South Carolina before taking over his own program at Stephen F. Austin. Kyle Keller replaced Underwood at SFA but maintained Underwood’s defensive principles and frenetic style of play.
Mizzou’s fully rested veterans expect more of the same from the Gamecocks.
“Extremely physical play,” senior guard Jordan Barnett said. “They’re going to try and deny a lot of our passes and make it extremely hard to get into our offense. We’ve practiced for that. It’s not like we haven’t seen that this year. We’ve played a couple teams that try to deny you and get up in you. We should be ready.”