COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — When Arkansas and Missouri faced off in January, the Razorbacks dominated the paint. They fouled out Missouri bigs Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter, and limited them to a combined nine points and seven rebounds.

On Saturday, Tilmon and Porter got their revenge. Porter scored 19 points, Tilmon added 17, the two each had eight rebounds and Missouri defeated Arkansas 77-67.

“We have enough to be as good as anybody as long as we’re like this, and if those two stay out of foul trouble,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said.

Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford played well in the post as well, scoring 16 points. But Gafford and the Razorbacks ran into foul trouble early. Missouri looked aggressive in the post, and the Tigers finished with a 37-25 rebounding advantage.

Jordan Barnett finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, his fifth double-double this season. Kassius Robertson scored 14 points.

Gafford’s 16 points led Arkansas (21-10, 10-8 Southeastern Conference), which tried to use the press to draw itself closer throughout the second half. It worked to an extent, but the Razorbacks couldn’t stop fouling. The Tigers finished 27 of 33 from the free-throw line. Arkansas was just 12 of 15.

“I thought the biggest thing was the free-throw line,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “That can nullify a lot of things that you’re doing well.”

Missouri built up an eight-point lead at the break with an 11-0 run midway through the opening half followed by a late 7-0 spurt. The Tigers also put together a 12-2 run with 9:05 left in the game.

Unlike in previous contests, the Tigers were able to pull away late. Arkansas was down six with 10:18 remaining, and couldn’t pull any closer.

BIG PICTURE

Arkansas: The Razorbacks had momentum following a win over No. 14 Auburn, which was their sixth win in seven games. But in a tough road environment, Arkansas had trouble defending Missouri’s post players.

Missouri: After losing three straight, Missouri has now won its last two. The Tigers’ bigs — Porter and Tilmon — are heating up at the right time. If Missouri can continue to thrive in the paint, the Tigers will be a scary SEC tournament team.

STAR WATCH

After anticipation of a possible return against Arkansas, Missouri freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. didn’t play Saturday. Porter returned to practice Feb. 23 and was cleared to play by doctors. Last year’s top high school prospect has played just two minutes this season, coming in the team’s opener against Iowa State. His possible appearance in the SEC tournament is still up in the air.

“Hopefully he gets right, he can join us and we can make a run at this thing,” Michael’s brother Jontay Porter said. “It hurts him to see us hooping out there, having fun. But he’s right there with us.”

SENIOR SENDOFF

Missouri’s most valuable player this year has undoubtedly been senior guard Kassius Robertson, who averaged 17.7 points per game in conference play coming into Saturday. But, with his 19 points, 11 boards and 5-for-7 mark from 3, Jordan Barnett stood out among the seniors Saturday. Barnett has particularly locked down on defense as well, something Martin says sets him apart.

“I think if Barnett defends the way he defends, because he’s shooting the ball at 6’7, I don’t know how he’s not in the NBA if he defends the way he has the last two games,” Martin said. “If you can defend like that with the way you can catch and shoot a three ball, I don’t know why he’s not at that level.”

UP NEXT

Arkansas will continue its season Thursday as the six seed in the SEC tournament.

Missouri will play Thursday as a five seed in the SEC tournament in St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Que Morrison scored 16 points, and 19th ranked Georgia upset No. 14 Missouri 55-41 Friday night in the Southeastern Conference women’s tournament quarterfinals.

With the win, third-seeded Georgia (25-5) reached the semifinals for the first time since 2013. The Lady Bulldogs will play eighth-ranked South Carolina, a 73-62 winner over Tennessee, on Saturday.

The Lady Bulldogs took control by outscoring Missouri 20-9 in the third quarter. Missouri led 25-22 when Caliya Robinson’s jumper with 7:33 put Georgia ahead to stay, and the Lady Bulldogs took a 40-32 lead into the fourth quarter.

Mackenzie Engram added 14 points, and Taja Cole had 13 for Georgia.

Missouri (24-7) never got closer than five in the fourth quarter with Georgia holding the Tigers to a season-worst 27.1 percent shooting for the game.

Jordan Frericks led Missouri with 10 points before fouling out with 1:15 left. Sophie Cunningham also fouled out for the Tigers.

— Associated Press —

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Amber Smith had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists and No. 14 Missouri beat Mississippi 59-50 in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday night.

Sophie Cunningham added all 11 of her points in the second half and sixth-seeded Missouri advanced the quarterfinals to face No. 3 seed Georgia on Friday night. During the regular season, Missouri lost its only meeting with Georgia on the road 62-50.

Missouri never trailed although 14th-seeded Ole Miss closed the first half on a 12-3 run to go into halftime down 28-26. The Tigers outscored the Rebels 13-4 in the third quarter and mostly led in double digits throughout the fourth.

Smith was 6 of 9 from the field and the Tigers made 17 of 35 in winning their first SEC Tournament game in six tries.

Madinah Muhammad had 20 points and Alissa Alston added 10 for the Rebels.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball completed a midweek series sweep of Alabama A&M with a 14-0 win Wednesday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou walked a season-high 16 times, the most for Mizzou since 2005, finishing the two-game set with 27 walks. Mizzou turned a fifth-inning triple play to highlight the game, Mizzou’s first triple play since Feb. 23, 2015, in a 1-0 win over Purdue. Mizzou also got a sixth-inning grand slam from senior OF Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.), who drove in a career-high six runs in the win.

Mizzou RHP Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) earned the win, his first of the season, after going 2.2 shutout innings, striking out three and allowing just two hits. He came in with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning and got a pair of strikeouts as Mizzou seized momentum from there. Alabama A&M’s Quentin Alsbrooks took the loss, falling to 1-0.

TURNING POINT
While Mizzou scored four runs over the first two innings, the turning point of the game came in the bottom of the third. Alabama A&M loaded the bases with one out, threatening to cut into Mizzou’s lead. Head coach Steve Bieser brought in righty Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) and he picked up a pair of strikeouts to end the threat. Mizzou then exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth and four more in the sixth, all on Harris’ slam, to put the game away.

NOTES
– Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Alabama A&M, 3-0.

– Mizzou is now 2-0 on Wednesdays, outscoring opponents 23-0 in those games.

– Mizzou is now 20-13 at home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.

– Junior 3B Brian Sharp extended his hitting streak to seven games, the longest active streak by a Tiger while matching the longest by any Mizzou player this season. He’s reached base in eight straight games.

– Mizzou turned its first triple play since Feb. 23, 2015, against Purdue in a 1-0 win at the Kleberg Bank College Classic.

– Senior OF Trey Harris tallied his first career grand slam in the sixth inning. It was Mizzou’s second grand slam of the season and second in four games after Brian Sharp hit one in the second game of last Saturday’s doubleheader vs. Northeastern. He drove in a career-high six RBI Wednesday.

– As far as we can tell by looking in the record book, it is the first time that Mizzou has turned a triple play and hit a grand slam in the same game.

– Mizzou turned in its second shutout of the season, the first since last Wednesday at No. 24 Miami in a 9-0 win.

– Freshman RHP Cameron Pferrer made his collegiate debut, pitching the top of the eighth inning.

– Freshman RHP Drake Greenwood also made his collegiate debut, pitching the ninth inning.

– Mizzou’s 16 walks drawn were its most since March 20, 2005, vs. North Dakota when it also walked 18 times.

UP NEXT
Mizzou will host Maryland-Baltimore County this weekend in its first home weekend series of 2018. The series beings Friday at 6:30 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior guard Sophie Cunningham has been announced as one of five finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award. The annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top small forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.

A national committee of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers narrowed the original award watch list of 20 players to 10 candidates and now just five finalists. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit www.HoophallAwards.com to cast their votes March 2-23.

The other four finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award are Gabby Williams (Connecticut), Shakayla Thomas (Florida St.), Jaime Nared (Tennessee), and Teana Muldrow (West Virginia).

The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award will be announced during ESPN2’s telecast of the national semifinal games in the 2018 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 30. The award will then be presented to the student-athlete on Saturday, March 31 at a new awards reception presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame and the WBCA and held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Cunningham is currently the only player in the nation shooting above 47 percent from 3-point range, 56 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line. She leads the SEC and ranks third in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage, making 47.5 of her attempts from long range. Cunningham also ranks fourth in the league in free throw percentage and seventh in the league in field goal percentage.

Cunningham is averaging a career-best 18.6 points per game, scoring in double figures 26 times in 28 games. She has scored at least 20 points 12 times, including seven times in conference play, and at least 25 points seven times. Cunningham has racked up 1,510 career points, which is fifth among active SEC players and ninth in Mizzou history.

Mizzou begins action at the SEC Tournament on Thursday when it faces Ole Miss at 8:30 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jontay Porter ended his shooting slump and Missouri ended its three-game losing streak.

Porter scored a career-high 24 points, including four 3-pointers in the Tigers’ 74-66 win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

“That was pretty refreshing because I haven’t been shooting the ball very well lately,” Porter said. “The pick and pop, first half, was really open and then they went to zone. That’s when I felt like I really had the chance to exploit that, like go in the middle kicking it or shooting it.”

Porter hit 9 of 10 from the floor, including all four of his 3-point attempts. The 6-foot-11 freshman enjoyed a strong overall game with seven rebounds and six assists.

Jordan Barnett added 17 points for the Tigers (19-11, 9-8 Southeastern Conference), who spoiled the Commodores’ home finale.

“They were in their zone kind of really spread out, so Jontay was just open a lot,” Barnett said. “So, I mean, if he’s open we’re going to throw it to him every single time. And he was able to hit a ton of shots tonight in a huge game.”

Missouri shot 58 percent from the field on 26 of 45 shooting, including 12 of 22 from distance.

“We like our chances when teams play zone — you flash and get in the middle,” Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin said. “We’ve spent a lot of time in that area since the (Texas) A&M game because we had opportunities like that and didn’t capitalize. Jontay did a great job of making adjustments, reading it and shooting the ball in rhythm.”

Senior Jeff Roberson led last-place Vanderbilt (11-19, 5-12) with 19 points in his final game at Memorial Gym.

Fellow senior Riley LaChance exited with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Both players received standing ovations from the crowd of 8,812 when leaving the court during the final seconds.

“It’s actually a little bit emotional when you think about everything you’ve been through,” Roberson said.

The Tigers rallied to take the lead with an 18-4 run the second half as they shot 65 percent from the floor during the last 20 minutes.

Vanderbilt made 8 of its first 15 shots from 3-point range to take a 32-30 halftime lead.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers improved their NCAA Tournament credentials with an SEC road win.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores lost their third straight game.

PORTER JR. STILL OUT

Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr., out since back surgery in November, warmed up with the Tigers, but didn’t play against Vanderbilt. He was cleared to practice Thursday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The 6-10 forward was named to the Associated Press preseason All-America team and he was the SEC preseason Co-Player of the Year. He was the nation’s top overall recruit out of Nathan Hale High School in Seattle.

“He’s looking a lot better,” Martin said. “Who knows? We’ll see.”

HONORARY START

Vanderbilt senior Matthew Fisher-Davis, out with a season-ending shoulder injury, made his final start at Memorial Gym.

The Commodores fouled immediately to get him out of the game safely. Fisher-Davis ranks sixth in school history with 269 career 3-pointers and he scored 1,219 career points.

“We spent basically three and a half years together and it was great having him out there even if it was just for a second because I know he wanted to be out there playing as hard as he could if he could,” Roberson said.

SECONDARY SCORING

Roberson and LaChance broke into double figures, but Vanderbilt didn’t get enough scoring support from the rest of the team. “Obviously, when we get that third and fourth option getting double figures that’s when we’ve been successful,” Vandy coach Bryce Drew said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get to that point tonight. Once Missouri got in rhythm, they never let us get back in it and really make a good run at them.”

UP NEXT

Missouri hosts Arkansas in its regular-season finale Saturday. The Razorbacks entered Tuesday’s games as the SEC’s second-highest scoring team (82.2 ppg).

Vanderbilt ends its season at Ole Miss (12-17) on Saturday. The Commodores are 0-10 in road games.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball won its home opener, 7-3, Tuesday night (Feb. 27) over Alabama A&M. Freshman RHP Ian Bedell (Davenport, Iowa) earned his first Division I win, going 3.2 relief innings, a career-long. He allowed just one earned run on two hits while striking out three. Reigning SEC Player of the Week Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) went 3-for-3 with a double and walk, scoring three runs. He is 9-for-his-last-9 since game two of last Saturday’s doubleheader. In that span, he has one double, one triple, two homers, nine RBI, two walks and has scored seven times.

The Tigers walked a season-high 11 times Tuesday. Junior OF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) drove in a pair of runs and senior OF Trey Harris (Powder Spring, Ga.) had an RBI double in the sixth inning. Mizzou improves to 6-3 on the season while Alabama A&M falls to 3-5. The two will play the series finale Wednesday at 4 p.m.

TURNING POINT
Mizzou entered the bottom of the fifth inning, trailing 1-0 on a solo homer from Tyus O’Neal-El. That’s when Mizzou started to put together quality at-bats, getting a double from reigning SEC Player of the Week Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.). A&M starter Clayton Warner then walked three straight Mizzou batters as a bases-loaded walk to Cade Bormet (San Antonio, Texas) tied the game. CF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) then hit a sacrifice fly to left, giving Mizzou a 2-1 lead.

Mizzou scored three more in the sixth, highlighted by a Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) double to score Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) from first. The other two runs came in on bases-loaded walks. Mizzou held on from there, getting good bullpen work from Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) and Giovanni Lopez (Goodyear, Ariz.).

NOTES
– Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Alabama A&M, 2-0

– Mizzou has won five of six home openers since joining the SEC and both under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.

– Junior 3B Brian Sharp extended his hitting streak to six games, the longest active streak the longest by a Mizzou player this season.

– Sharp tallied his second multi-hit game of the season Tuesday. Since Saturday, he is 9-for-9 with nine RBI, seven runs, two homers, two walks and a double and a triple.

– Freshman RHP Konnor Ash made his first career start Tuesday, going a career-long 3.0 innings, allowing three hits and one run on a solo homer. He walked two and struck out one.

– Freshman RHP Ian Bedell earned his first career win, pitching 3.2 relief innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts.

– Mizzou walked a season-high 11 times Tuesday.

UP NEXT
Mizzou and Alabama A&M will play the final contest of a two-game series at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior guard Sophie Cunningham and redshirt senior Jordan Frericks received All-SEC recognition, as announced by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday. Cunningham was named First Team All-SEC by both the Associated Press and the league’s coaches and Frericks was named Second Team All-SEC by the coaches.

Cunningham has now earned First Team All-SEC honors in back-to-back seasons, becoming the first Tiger to secure First Team All-Conference recognition in two consecutive campaigns since Evan Unrau in 2003 and 2004.

Cunningham is currently the only player in the nation shooting above 47 percent from 3-point range, 56 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line. She leads the SEC and ranks third in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage, making 47.5 of her attempts from long range. Cunningham also ranks fourth in the league in free throw percentage and seventh in the league in field goal percentage.

Cunningham is averaging a career-best 18.6 points per game, scoring in double figures 26 times in 28 games. She has scored at least 20 points 12 times, including seven times in conference play, and at least 25 points seven times. Cunningham has racked up 1,510 career points, which is fifth among active SEC players and ninth in Mizzou history.

Frericks received Second Team All-SEC recognition for the third time in her career. She is averaging 12.3 points and 7.6 rebounds in her final campaign at Mizzou. She has scored in double figures 19 times, including 12 times in the past 13 games to end the regular season in style. She’s also grabbed at least five rebounds 24 times in 29 games.

Frericks recently became just the third Tiger ever to reach 1,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds. She ranks third in program history in career rebounds with 1,010 and counting. Frericks has scored 1,414 career points and tallied 126 career blocked shots.

Mizzou continues its season at the 2018 SEC Tournament in Nashville this week. Mizzou tips off competition at 8:30 p.m. Thursday against either Florida or Ole Miss.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Anriel Howard turned in her sixth straight double-double and became Texas A&M’s career and single-season rebounding record-holder as the No. 17 Aggies beat No. 11 Missouri 82-63 on Sunday.

Howard had 16 points and 10 rebounds for 923 boards in her career, passing Prissy Sharpe (920 from 1996-2000), and 360 this season, tying Peggy Pope (1978-79).

Chennedy Carter scored 23 points and Danni Williams 20 for the Aggies (22-8, 11-5), who finished in a four-way tie for fourth place with Missouri (23-6, 11-5), LSU and Tennessee in the SEC. Texas A&M will be the No. 5 seed and Missouri No. 6 and both have first-round byes in the conference tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sophie Cunningham scored 19 points for the Tigers, who had a five-game win streak end.

A 14-0 run gave the Aggies a 20-point lead late in the first half and was extended to 25 midway through the third quarter after a 10-0 surge. The lead remained comfortably in double figures.

Texas A&M shot 56 percent.

— Associated Press —