FORT MYERS, Fla. – Mizzou Baseball dropped the final contest of its season-opening, eight-game road trip, 4-2, to Northeastern Sunday afternoon (Feb. 25) at City of Palms Park. Mizzou closes its road trip with a 5-3 mark to open the 2018 campaign while Northeastern improves to 4-3.

Mizzou senior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over the first 4.1 innings. He was out-dueled by Northeastern’s Sean Mellen. Mizzou hit into a pair of rally-killing double plays in the sixth and seventh innings as it attempted to come back and then saw a ninth-inning rally fall short with the tying run at the plate.

TURNING POINT
Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning, Northeastern DH Ryan Solomon hit a two-run homer off Mizzou starter Andy Toelken to extend the lead to 4-1. The Tigers went quietly in a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth and Northeastern seized momentum from there.

Mizzou put two men on in the sixth inning after back-to-back singles from Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Zach Hanna (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), threatening to chip into the 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, DH Isiah Cullum (Bushnell, Fla.) hit into a 5-3 double play to squelch the threat. Mizzou again hit into a double play in the seventh and its rally fell short in the ninth.

TOP TIGERS
– Junior RHP Brian Sharp was sensational in relief Sunday, throwing 4.2 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out six. On the week, he pitched 9.2 shutout innings and struck out 14 without a walk, surrounding just seven hits. He also hit .563 at the plate and drove in 10 runs, including his 5-for-5 performance with a school-record nine RBI in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader.

– Sharp also singled in his only AB in the ninth.

NOTES
– The all-time series between Mizzou and Northeastern is now tied at 2-2

– Mizzou is now 11-5 in games played at City of Palms Park

– Mizzou is now 23-13 in games played away from home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser

– Mizzou is now 15-6 in games played in Florida during the first two weeks of the season over the last two-plus seasons.

– Mizzou falls to 0-2 on Sundays this season

– SS Chris Cornelius batted in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career Sunday.

UP NEXT
Mizzou heads home for a 10-game homestand, beginning Tuesday with the first of a two-game set vs. Alabama A&M.

— Mizzou Athletics —

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Outside shooting helped get Kentucky going against Missouri before the Wildcats started hitting from inside the arc. On both fronts, baskets came consistently with many contributions.

Kevin Knox had 21 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 14 and Kentucky made 10 3-pointers and shot 55 percent to blow out the Tigers 87-66 on Saturday night.

The Wildcats (20-9, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Tigers 16-6 over the final 4 1/2 minutes before halftime for a 44-32 lead. Several more spurts stretched the advantage to as many as 24 as they avenged a 69-60 loss three weeks ago, a game in which baskets were hard to come by.

This time, Kentucky seemingly couldn’t miss.

Knox succeeded more from inside the arc than behind it, but his one 3 helped the Wildcats’ strong start and symbolized his focus after a couple of rough days.

Mentioned Friday in a Yahoo! Sports story as having had a meal with an agent, the freshman forward started after an internal review determined there were no eligibility issues. He made 6 of 13 from the field and all eight free throws in a game that initially seemed destined to be decided from outside.

“With everything going on it has been a good week,” Knox said, “just been blocking everything out. I had two good days of practice before this game. Last time they gave us a good one at their place, so we just made sure that we focused on the game going on.

Quade Green and PJ Washington each added 12 points, while Jarred Vanderbilt had a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 points for his first career double-double. Hamidou Diallo made all three 3s for 11 points as six Wildcats scored in double figures. Kentucky was 10 of 16 from long range and shot above 50 percent for the first time since Jan. 13 at Vanderbilt.

Kassius Robertson had 26 points including six 3s, and Jordan Barnett had 11 points for Missouri (18-11, 8-8), which made 10 of 31 from long but shot 36 percent in losing its third in a row.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers started with promise offensively, especially from outside, before cooling off to finish 21 of 58 from the field. Failing to contain Kentucky as well from the perimeter hurt the most, and getting beat 36-31 on the glass was an issue of toughness for coach Cuonzo Martin.

“They set a tone that we could never match their toughness level,” he said.

Kentucky: The Wildcats followed up their impressive victory at Arkansas by doing many things right, especially with 27 defensive rebounds. Long-range shots got them going offensively and led to frequent chances at the foul line, where they made 21 of 28 free throws. They also shared the ball well with 17 assists, while their bench dominated 38-15.

More importantly for coach John Calipari, the Wildcats are coming together just in time for the postseason.

“Right before your eyes, we’re becoming a better basketball team,” he said. “It was only a month ago, three weeks ago, half the team, it was a fight to get them to play how we were trying to get them to play.”

PORTER UPDATE

Freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. did not play after returning to practice Friday following back surgery. Martin said the team is going to make sure he’s healthy enough to take contact before bringing him back and did not set a timetable for his return.

CHAMPS REMEMBERED

Members of Kentucky’s 1978 NCAA championship squad held their 40th anniversary reunion this week and were recognized in a halftime ceremony. The Wildcats beat Duke to claim the program’s fifth title and end a 20-year drought. Surviving members or their relatives, including MVP Jack “Goose” Givens, received replicas of the championship plaque that was displayed on a table. Former coach Joe B. Hall said, “it gets better and better every year.”

UP NEXT

Missouri visits Vanderbilt Tuesday in the season’s lone meeting between the schools.

Kentucky hosts Mississippi on Wednesday, seeking its ninth straight series win against the Rebels.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Frericks finished one assist shy of a triple-double, settling for her 28th career double-double on her Senior Night, and No. 11 Missouri defeated Vanderbilt 83-68 on Thursday night.

Frericks had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (23-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference), who have won six straight. Amber Smith hit five 3-points and scored 19 points to lead Missouri.

Lauren Aldridge was 5 of 5 behind the arc for all of her 15 points, including Missouri’s first three baskets of the game. The Tigers used a 14-point run to open a 35-17 first-quarter lead, their biggest quarter of the season. Sophie Cunningham had nine of her 14 points in the run and Missouri went 7 of 10 from distance and 14 of 19 overall.

Vanderbilt (6-23, 2-13), which has lost six straight, was led by Cierra Walker with 17 points and Rachel Bell with 16.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr. has been cleared to resume basketball activities, reports say.

The 6-foot-10 Porter, the top prep prospect in the country last season, played in only two minutes of the Tigers’ season-opening win over Iowa State before missing the rest of the season following surgery in November.

Porter averaged 36.2 points and 13.6 rebounds per game as a senior in high school in Washington, and he was a McDonald’s All-American after signing with Missouri.

He was expected to miss the rest of this season after the procedure, called a microdisetomy, but now, based on multiple reports, it appears Porter will be back on the court soon.

— Associated Press —

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Mizzou Baseball earned its first road win over a ranked opponent since May 7, 2017, as it defeated No. 24 Miami, 9-0, Wednesday night at Alex Rodriguez Park. Junior RHP Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) dazzled in his first career start, pitching a career-high 5.0 innings while striking out a career-high eight. He scattered just four hits over the shutout appearance, earning his first win since March 15, 2017.

Mizzou scored five runs in the fourth inning, capitalizing on three hits, a walk and a big error by Miami starting pitcher Mike Mediavilla, allowing two runs to score. Mediavilla took the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year. Mizzou improves to 3-1 on the year while Miami goes to 2-2.

TURNING POINT
In the bottom of the third inning, Miami seemed to catch a break as Mizzou CF Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) dove for a blooper in right center and let it get behind him for a triple with one out. Sharp pitched around the jam and Mizzou then exploded for five runs on three hits in the top of the fourth inning, taking advantage of a huge throwing error by Miami starting pitcher Mike Mediavilla on a fielder’s choice at home plate.

Freshman INF Mark Vierling (St. Louis, Mo.) hit a bases-loaded shot back up the middle, caroming off Mediavilla’s foot. He regrouped and fired home, but high, allowing two Mizzou runs to score on the error. Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.) added RBI singles and senior 3B Alex Samples (Bridgeport, Texas) got an RBI on a sacrifice squeeze.

Sharp then threw up two more zeros to wrap up his career-best outing. T.J. Sikkema (DeWitt, Iowa) shut it down from there, throwing 3.0 innings, scattering just one hit and striking out five. Mizzou tacked on four more in the ninth inning and RHP Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) shut the door from there.

TOP TIGERS
– Junior RHP Brian Sharp was the story Wednesday night as he turned in the best outing of his career in his first career start. He reset career-highs in innings pitched (5.0) and strikeouts (eight) while allowing just four hits over 5.0 shutout frames.

– Sophomore SS Chris Cornelius tallied his second multi-hit game of the season Wednesday and drove in a run during Mizzou’s five-run fourth. He posted a three-hit night Wednesday.

– Sophomore CF Kameron Misner continued his hot start to the season, pounding two hits and walking twice more. He has now walked 11 times in four games. He doubled in a run in the ninth inning and scored two runs as well. He reached in four plate appearances Wednesday. He has reached base 17-of-22 plate appearances (.773 OBP) this season.

– Senior OF Trey Harris extended his hitting streak to four games, going 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two stolen bases.

NOTES
– Mizzou’s all-time series with Miami is now tied at 1-1. The only other meeting was a 6-5 Miami win during the 2008 NCAA Coral Gables Regional.

– Mizzou has won three straight midweek games dating back to last season.

– Mizzou is now 21-11 away from home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.

– The win was Mizzou’s first over a ranked opponent since May 7, 2017, at Vanderbilt last season.

– The shutout was Mizzou’s first road shutout since May 19, 2017, at Tennessee.

– Senior OF Trey Harris has hit safely in all four games this season.

– In his first career start, junior RHP Brian Sharp reset career-highs in strikeouts (eight), innings (4.0) and allowed just four hits.

UP NEXT
Mizzou will stay in the Sunshine State for a four-game weekend series with Northeastern, beginning Friday at 5:30 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – For the second consecutive season, Mizzou Women’s Basketball head coach Robin Pingeton has been named a Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year National Semifinalist. Pingeton is of 10 coaches across the nation in the running for the 2018 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year honor.

From this list, the Naismith Awards master voting academy will select the four finalists, to be announced March 14. Fans will be able to support their favorite coach by visiting naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 19-30 to cast their ballot. The fan vote accounts for five percent of the overall final vote.

Pingeton has steered Mizzou to its third consecutive 22-win campaign for the first time since 1982-85. The Tigers are ranked No. 11 in the nation in the AP Top 25 poll, their highest ranking since 1984, and No. 9 in the Coaches’ Poll, their highest ranking in that poll in program history.

Mizzou is 22-5 with only one of the five losses coming against a team that is currently unranked. The Tigers sit in a tie for third in a talented SEC, boasting wins over Tennessee, South Carolina and California, among others.

Pingeton’s squad has won 15 of its last 20 regular season games over SEC opponents dating back to last season. Mizzou is 6-1 in its last seven games against Top 25 teams at home.

The Tigers stay at home this Thursday to face Vanderbilt on Senior Night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus. Senior Night festivities will begin at 6:40 p.m.

Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College
Coach of the Year Semifinalists

NAME SCHOOL CONFERENCE
Karen Aston Texas Big 12
Geno Auriemma UCONN AAC
Kelly Graves Oregon Pac-12
Muffet McGraw Notre Dame ACC
Kim Mulkey Baylor Big 12
Robin Pingeton Missouri SEC
Vic Schaefer Mississippi State SEC
Joni Taylor Georgia SEC
Jeff Walz Louisville ACC
Amy Williams Nebraska Big Ten

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Breein Tyree scored 25 points, including a game-tying basket in regulation, and Ole Miss defeated Missouri 90-87 in overtime Tuesday night.

The Rebels took the lead with 4:14 left in overtime and managed to hold on the rest of the way despite a series of fouls and turnovers.

With 15 seconds left and Ole Miss up one, the Rebels turned it over, but Terence Davis picked up a mammoth block on the other end with seven seconds left. Ole Miss closed it out with free throws.

The Rebels (12-16, 5-10 Southeastern conference) led for over 36 minutes, but had to shield a Missouri comeback attempt throughout the second half. The Tigers built a six-point lead with 2:38 remaining, but they allowed Ole Miss to climb back. Tyree drilled a floater with three seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Jontay Porter led Missouri (18-10, 8-7) with 17 points and contributed nine rebounds. Six different Tigers scored in double-digits, but Missouri turned the ball over 21 times, limiting its offensive flow for much of the game. Jeremiah Tilmon picked up a double-double, scoring 12 points and adding 12 rebounds, but shot just 2 for 6 from the free-throw line.

BIG PICTURE

Ole Miss: A very nice start to the Tony Madlock era. After dropping seven consecutive games and losing its coach, Ole Miss rebounded with an impressive offensive performance against a stellar defensive team, and showed enough fight to pick up its first road win in conference.

Missouri: The Tigers have now lost two straight after winning five in a row. While Missouri is still on track for an NCAA Tournament appearance, this definitely puts a dent in its resume. The Tigers also have turnover and inbound issues to fix.

UP NEXT

Ole Miss returns home to play Tennessee on Saturday.

Missouri hits the road to face Kentucky on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored 12 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter and No. 13 Missouri held on to beat No. 11 Tennessee on Sunday.

The Tigers (22-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) made 12 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter but the two misses came in the final minute, giving the Lady Vols (21-6, 9-5) a chance. Jordan Frericks fouled Rennia Davis on a 3-point attempt with 1.4 seconds left. Davis missed the first free throw and made the second before deliberately missing the third. Missouri got the rebound and iced the game on two Cunningham free throws with less than a second remaining.

Tennessee, down as many as 15 in the second quarter, took the lead with a 10-0 run early in the third. Missouri led by two entering the fourth quarter and the Lady Vols tied it three times but never led.

Frericks had 16 points for the Tigers, who shot 56 percent and were 19 of 22 from the foul line.

Jaime Nared led Tennessee, which had 14 offensive rebounds but was 11 of 16 from the line, with 25 points.

— Associated Press —

MIAMI – Mizzou Baseball came up short on Sunday (Feb. 18), falling to Florida International, 11-5, failing to complete the season-opening series sweep. Mizzou went on top, 5-2, with five runs in the fifth inning but gave the lead right back in the bottom half of the frame. Mizzou falls to 2-1 on the season.

Mizzou hit six batters in the game and that was a key reason for the Panthers’ four-run fifth that sank the Tigers. Mizzou stranded nine men on base in the loss.

RS sophomore Cody Siebenberger (Smithton, Ill.) took the loss while FIU RHP Steven Casey earned the win. Junior OF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) tallied a career-high four hits while sophomore 1B Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) walked in four of his five plate appearances, tallying an RBI and a run. Junior OF Zach Hanna (Shawnee, Kan.) had a three-run, bases-loaded double in Mizzou’s five-run fifth as well.

TURNING POINT
After Mizzou took a 5-2 lead with five runs in the top of the fifth inning, three coming on a Zach Hanna (Shawnee, Kan.) double, the Panthers responded with a four-spot in their half of the frame. That gave FIU a 6-5 lead that it never surrendered. DH Christian Khawam delivered the go-ahead hit, a two-run double. FIU then tacked on five more in the eighth inning. The Panthers then iced the game with five in the bottom of the eighth.

TOP TIGERS
– Junior OF Zach Hanna drove in a career-high three runs with his bases-clearing double in the fifth inning.

– Sophomore Kameron Misner walked three times in the game, earning an RBI and scoring a run. He walked eight times in the series.

– Junior OF Connor Brumfield tallied a four-hit performance with a double from the leadoff spot.

UP NEXT
Mizzou will stay in the Sunshine State for another week, first playing at Miami on Wednesday (Feb. 21) at 5 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Tremont Waters made a shot in the lane with 19 seconds remaining in the game to give LSU a 64-63 Southeastern Conference victory against Missouri on Saturday.

Waters pulled LSU (15-11, 6-8) within one point on a short jumper with 1:08 remaining. LSU got a stop when Aaron Epps rebounded a missed jumper by Jontay Porter with 40 seconds to go and Waters then made his game-winning shot.

Missouri (18-9, 8-6) had two opportunities to retake the lead in the final seconds. With five seconds remaining, Daryl Edwards drew a charging foul from Kassius Robertson.

However, LSU’s Edwards made a poor inbounds pass and Robertson retrieved the loose ball. Robertson missed a short jumper with one second to play and a tip by Cullen Vanleer at the buzzer hit the underside of the basket.

“Daryl Edwards made a winning play at the end on the charge,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “Our execution on the inbound could have been better, not to make the end so dramatic. Missouri is one of, if not the best, team we have beaten. It was a good win for us.”

Waters was the leading scorer for LSU with 21 points and scored LSU’s final six points. Epps had 12 points and nine rebounds and Skylar Mays added 10 points.

“I tried to learn my lesson with Tremont,” Wade said. “At Alabama, I put him on the bench for a little while. We have to trust him a little bit more. I played Epps with fouls a little longer than I typically do. You have to trust those guys and let them play through it more. I tried to do that today.”

Jordan Barnett was the top scorer for Missouri with 18 points. Robertson finished with 14 points — four below his season average.

There were 13 ties and 19 lead changes throughout the game. Neither team had more than a five-point advantage. It was a one-possession game for almost the final 16 minutes.

“It’s a tough one,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “LSU obviously did some good things and protected their home court. We didn’t play as a team in the first ten minutes in the first half. We started to settle in a little bit in the second half. We did a solid job defensively except down the stretch.”

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: Missouri missed a great chance to pick up a third straight road victory to bolster its NCAA Tournament body of work.

LSU: LSU continued to be a tough team for SEC road teams as it won its fourth game in a row.

POINT GUARD DUEL

LSU freshman Tremont Waters got the better of Missouri graduate transfer Kassius Robertson. Waters scored 21 points, which matched his second highest total against a SEC opponent this season. Waters also made 50 percent of his field goal attempts (8-of-16) for just the second time in a conference game. Waters handed out four assists and made two steals. Robertson, who was guarded primarily by Daryl Edwards, was limited to eight field goal attempts. Robertson’s 14 points were his fewest in eight games. He was 4-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers. Robertson missed three of his six foul shots. Like Waters, Robertson had four assists and two steals.

POOR FOUL SHOOTING

Missouri had one of its best games of the season on shooting 3-pointers as it made 57 percent (12 of 21). Jordan Barnett matched his season-high with six 3-pointers in eight attempts. But the Missouri loss can be traced to what happened at the free throw line. Missouri missed 10 of its 17 foul shots. The 41 percent free-throw shooting was Missouri’s poorest of the season. Entering the game, Missouri was making 75 percent of its foul shots.

UP NEXT

Missouri will return home to play Ole Miss on Tuesday.

LSU will play Vanderbilt in a second straight home game Tuesday.

— Associated Press —