Hogs want to wreck senior day
COLUMBIA, Mo. — After the Arkansas Razorbacks celebrated their senior night with a 91-82 victory over Auburn in Walton Arena on Tuesday, they’ll try to ruin Missouri’s farewell party at Mizzou Arena today.
Missouri seniors Kassius Robertson and Jordan Barnett — the Tigers’ top two scorers averaging 16.6 and 13.9 points, respectively — will be honored before today’s 5 p.m. tipoff just as the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville’s seven seniors were before the Auburn game.
“You know the emotions are going to be running high,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “I think you just have to withstand that first five minutes, man, the first flurries.
“The punches are going to come. You have to be able to withstand it and eventually you’re going to have to play basketball. That’s the biggest key there, just being poised, and that’s where your leadership has to step in.”
Ready for Porter Jr.
Today’s game not only will be the final home game for Missouri’s seniors but possibly freshman Michael Porter Jr.
There seems little doubt Porter Jr., a 6-10 forward, will leave Missouri after this season to enter the NBA Draft considering he’s projected to be a top-10 pick.
Porter Jr. played only the first two minutes of the season opener against Iowa State before leaving the game because of a back injury. He subsequently underwent back surgery, but last week he was medically cleared to practice.
Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin said Thursday that whether Porter Jr. plays today will depend on how he responds physically after going through practice on back-to-back days.
“It’ll really come down to how Mike feels,” Martin said. “Then we’ll go from there.”
Porter Jr. went through warmups at Missouri’s previous two games at Kentucky and Vanderbilt, then before the tipoff he changed into sweats and sat on the bench as he has since the Iowa State game.
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said he expects Porter Jr. to play, but his questionable status hasn’t affected the Razorbacks’ preparations.
“He’s a tremendous basketball player,” Anderson said. “He’ll be, I’m sure, impactful on their team.
“But we’ll prepare like we prepare for everybody else. No different. It’s the last [regular-season] game, and we just have to go do the things that we do.”
Iron man Robertson
Missouri senior guard Kassius Robertson — a graduate transfer from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. — is averaging 38.2 minutes in SEC games to lead all players.
That heavy workload would seem to make Robertson a candidate to wear down physically, especially against a team like Arkansas that wants to force a fast tempo, but he’s been holding up well.
Robertson is averaging 17.7 points in SEC play. He scored 26 points at Arkansas and hit 9 of 15 shots — including 6 of 11 three-pointers — when the Razorbacks beat the Tigers 65-63 in Walton Arena on Jan. 13. He also scored 26 points at Kentucky.
Robertson has carried a heavier-than-expected workload for the Tigers because injuries, transfers and the dismissal of Terrence Phillips has reduced their roster to eight scholarship players.
“They’ve had some guys that they’ve lost, and it’s amazing how sometimes when you have subtraction, you have addition,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “Because you have some guys that step up to the plate. Robertson has become a tremendous player for their basketball team.”
Robertson has played
39 or more minutes in nine SEC games, including 44 against Mississippi State and 42 against Ole Miss in overtime games, and all 40 in a regulation game against Tennessee.
“He’s been playing real efficient,” Anderson said. “He’s running the show and he’s scoring for them. That says a lot about him.
“He’s a fifth-year senior, so I’m sure he takes care of himself from the standpoint of knowing he’s going to be out there. But our job is hopefully to make fatigue a factor in this game.”
Triple threats
Arkansas and Missouri feature four of the SEC’s top-five three-point shooters percentage-wise.
Razorbacks guards Daryl Macon (44.3 percent) and Jaylen Barford (43.7) are first and second in the conference, and Missouri guard Kassius Robertson (43.2) and forward Jordan Barnett (41.1) are third and fifth.
Turn ’em over
Missouri has a minus-3.5 turnover ratio. The Tigers had 16 turnovers at Arkansas earlier this season against the Razorbacks’ pressure defense.
“I’m sure they’re going to work on that,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “But we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to play pressure defense and try to be as unpredictable as we possibly can. I just think defense has got to be something we really play well.”