Want to establish a great basketball program? You can’t lose at home
BRANSON MO NEWS: If you want to build a college basketball program, you’ve got to win at home.That’s the message Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin has preached all season, and Tuesday night, when a reeling Tigers squad lost its footing and dropped a second straight game, the first-year coach reiterated the point.“That’s the sign of a good program leading to a great program,” Martin said late Tuesday night. How important it is to protect your home court, (to) have a great fan base — all those things matter.”
Missouri lost 90-87 to last-place Mississippi, a team whose coach stepped down two days ago. The Rebels hadn’t won a road SEC contest before Tuesday, a fact making this loss, at such an inopportune time, sting even worse.When Missouri needed a win crucial for its SEC Tournament seeding and its NCAA Tournament résumé, the Tigers failed to protect their home court. They turned the ball over 21 times, and the Rebels took advantage, scoring 19 points off turnovers compared to Missouri’s eight.They missed 11 free throws and gave up a dozen points on fast breaks.It was exactly the performance Martin discourages in any setting, let alone at Mizzou Arena — lazy defense, untimely turnovers, a season-high 42 points allowed in the first half.“Same thing that it’s usually been,” senior Jordan Barnett said. “Couldn’t close out the game. Turnovers down the stretch. Same old, same old.”Puryear called it an “inexcusable lack of focus, lack of toughness.”“It’s embarrassing, actually, to have 21 turnovers on your own floor,” he said.Both Puryear and Martin used that phrase repeatedly — “your own floor.”You can’t let a team score 90 points on your own floor. You can’t leave opposing fans happy on your own floor.You can’t lose a game …
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