Like Missouri’s team, Jontay Porter struggles with toughness of Kentucky in loss
BRANSON MO NEWS: LEXINGTON, KY — Jontay Porter stood on the left wing and yelled to his left. His knees were bent. His hands were exposed. He wanted the basketball, and he wanted it badly.It was not the freshman forward’s night, though, so it was only fitting he did not receive it. Nor was it Missouri’s night, for that matter.The Tigers were outmanned and outmatched against Kentucky, and it showed in their 87-66 loss. Missouri dropped its fifth and final Saturday road game of the year (it only played five), and its third straight game.
“What we lacked more than anything tonight was a level of toughness,” coach Cuonzo Martin said. “They set a tone.”Prior to the game, the Tigers were all smiles.For the first time since the season-opener against Iowa State back on Nov. 11, the freshman Porter warmed up next to his older brother — yes, freshman phenom Michael Porter Jr.Shooting next to each in front of the student section termed the “Eruption Zone” inside Rupp Arena , both Porters elevated for 3-pointers. Both spun into the lane and attempted shots off of the glass, too. After a trip back to the locker room and return to the court, though, only Jontay Porter took the court in uniform.Simply put: He struggled.“They made him defend,” Martin said postgame. “They made him play offense. They made him work on offense. They made him work to block him out so (he struggled because of) a lot of different things.”Back on Feb. 3, when the two teams last met, it was the opposite.That day, Porter was key in the Tigers’ 69-60 win against the Wildcats. He scored 13 points in that game on 4 of 7 shooting. He also secured a late-game block on Kentucky freshman forward Jarred Vanderbilt that sealed the …
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