COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball sophomore righty Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) has been named a Preseason All-American by PerfectGame.com, as announced Monday (Jan. 11). Houck, who was a consensus Freshman All-American a year ago, landed on PerfectGame’s All-America Third Team on Monday. Houck is Mizzou’s first Preseason All-American since Kyle Gibson and Trevor Coleman earned the distinction in 2009.

Houck put together one of the best freshman seasons in Mizzou baseball history. His eight wins are the most by a Tiger freshman since Kyle Gibson (a former first-round draft pick) in 2007 and his 100.2 innings are the most ever by a Tiger freshman under Tim Jamieson. At the end of the regular season, he had thrown more innings than any other freshman in the country. He compiled a 3.49 ERA on the season, striking out 91 batters over 100.2 innings while walking just 12 in 15 starts as a freshman.

Houck was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and was an All-SEC Freshman Team honoree as well. He helped Mizzou defeat three top-five teams – No. 6 South Carolina, No. 4 Florida and No. 1 Texas A&M – earning wins in two of those three starts. Houck spent his summer with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, where he led the team in innings pitched, strikeouts and starts while boasting an 11-1 strikeout-walk ratio and a .159 opponent batting average. He threw 4.0 perfect innings in a combined no-hitter against Cuba as well.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tiffany Mitchell handled second-ranked South Carolina’s offense as the Gamecocks routed No. 20 Missouri.

Mitchell scored 19 points and keyed a run in the third quarter when Missouri tried to rally in the Gamecocks 83-58 win on Sunday.

The two-time SEC Player of the Year scored seven straight points in the third period after Missouri cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 10. The Tigers (14-2, 1-2 SEC) barely got a clean look at the basket in the first half as USC (15-0, 3-0) played its best defense of the season, but USC began to crack in the third as Missouri’s offense slipped into rhythm.

Mitchell, as she did against Vanderbilt in south Carolina’s last game, took over. Two fast-break layups around the Gamecocks’ first 3-pointer of the game restored the lead and she finished with a game-high 19 points.

“Coach (Dawn) Staley gives me a look to kind of take over sometimes,” Mitchell said. “I just try to read and get in the flow of the game.”

Missouri star freshman Sophie Cunningham entered the game ninth in the SEC in scoring but South Carolina’s aggressive defense and two early fouls held her to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting.

“We felt like after playing Tennessee and seeing that kind of pressure, we felt like we could really learn and grown from it,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “We dug ourselves a pretty big hole in that first half.”

The Gamecocks placed sophomore A’ja Wilson in the paint and told her to concentrate on defense rather than scoring, and Wilson responded with six blocks, tying a career-high. She and Alaina Coates had double-doubles, Wilson scoring 11 with 11 rebounds while Coates had 13 and 12.

Wilson joked in the preseason about wanting to win SEC Defensive Player of the Year, but her performance is suggesting it’s much more than a good quote. “I hope the evolution of A’ja’s defense is much like Alaina (Coates)’ offense,” Staley said. “It’s a goal of hers. The goal will be dangled out there and it could be hers for the taking.”

USC shot 42 percent but missed several point-blank looks at the basket. Once Mitchell began scoring in the third, the Gamecocks got back on track.

Each team did well denying the other team second-chance points. The Gamecocks and Tigers each had over 25 defensive rebounds while allowing limited offensive rebounds.

TIP-INS

South Carolina: The Gamecocks lost their second guard in a week before the game when sophomore Kaydra Duckett left the team for the spring semester to focus on academics. Freshman Shay Colley left last week due to homesickness. The Gamecocks are down to 11 players.

Missouri: The Tigers notched their best start in program history by going 13-0 in the non-conference season, but the SEC schedule has brought them back to Earth. Missouri lost to Tennessee to start, won at Georgia and then lost at USC. The Tigers’ next three games are hosting No. 7 Mississippi State, at Arkansas and at No. 13 Texas A&M.

PIVOTAL MOMENT

Tina Roy passed to Mitchell in the corner and Mitchell converted the 3. The pointed finger from Mitchell to Roy to thank her for the assist also seemed to tell the Tigers that they were down to stay.

ELITE COMPANY

The win made USC’s men’s and women’s teams a combined 30-0 to start the season. It’s the fifth time in Division I history that a school’s two teams won at least 30 games between them to start the year.

STAT LINE

The Gamecocks recorded 14 steals and seven blocked shots while forcing 20 turnovers. While the production slowed in the second half (four steals and one block), the Tigers were hit so hard by the physical play that once their offense began flowing, players began fouling out.

UP NEXT

South Carolina is at Kentucky on Thursday.

Missouri hosts Mississippi State on Thursday.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Kevin Puryear’s first career double-double helped Missouri earn its first Southeastern Conference victory of the season, 76-61 over Auburn Saturday night.

Puryear had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Missouri (8-7, 1-1).

Auburn’s Tyler Harris had a game-high 21 points with five rebounds and two blocks. He scored 13 in the second half and made 6 of 12 shots.

Tempers flared during a physical first half in which both teams combined for 22 personal fouls. Auburn’s Kareem Canty and Missouri’s Wes Clark were both issued technical fouls at the 13:22 mark. Moments after both benches received warnings, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was also assessed a technical.

Canty entered the game as Auburn’s leading scorer at 19.5 points per game, but finished with four fouls and only nine points.

Missouri took advantage of frequent trips to the foul line, converting on 25 of 33 free-throws. Auburn finished 16 of 24 from the line.

Auburn (7-7, 1-2) committed 14 turnovers — including 11 in the first half — leading to 13 Missouri points.

As both teams dealt with foul trouble, bench play became a factor. Missouri got 40 points from its bench while Auburn got only five. Tramaine Isabell had 12 points to go with four rebounds, and Namon Wright had 10 points and four rebounds.

Missouri enjoyed a 39-24 lead at halftime following a 26-9 run to close the first half. D’Angelo Allen provided the spark with five points, three rebounds and a block in an eight-minute stretch. Allen also made his first 3-point attempt of the night, only his second attempt all year. He finished with seven points and four rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting.

The only other Auburn player in double figures was Bryce Brown, who had 11 points on 4 of 13 from the field.

—

TIP-INS

Auburn: Kareem Canty is on pace to become the fifth player in SEC history with 100 made 3-pointers and 100 assists in the same season. … This was a homecoming for St. Louis native Jordan Granger, who helped McCuler North High School win the 2011 and 2012 state championships in Mizzou Arena. Granger finished with seven points and five rebounds. … Freshman Danjel Purifoy remains ineligible by the NCAA clearinghouse stemming from issues with his ACT scores.

Missouri: Following a 77-59 loss to Georgia Wednesday, Terrence Phillips became the first Missouri player since Jordan Clarkson to record five or more assists in three consecutive games. … Kevin Puryear has reached double-figure scoring in 11 of 15 games this year. … Missouri now holds a 4-1 series lead against Auburn.

UP NEXT

Auburn visits Vanderbilt Tuesday.

Missouri hosts Arkansas Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Jordan Frericks had 11 points and a key block with seven seconds left and No. 20 Missouri made four free throws in the final four seconds to defeat Georgia 54-48 Thursday night.

Cierra Porter had 11 points, including three of the late free throws, as the Tigers (14-1, 1-1 SEC) bounced back from their first loss of the season with a strong defensive effort.

Fredricks blocked Tiaria Griffin’s 3-point attempt with seven seconds left to protect a 50-48 lead. Porter and Sophie Cunningham each made 1 of 2 free throws with four seconds left as the Bulldogs were hit with a technical. On the ensuing possession a second late Porter made two free throws.

Griffin had 14 points and Shacobia Barbee had 10 and 14 rebounds for Georgia (12-3, 0-2), which shot just 26 percent for the game. After taking a 43-38 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs closed by going 2 of 13.

— Associated Press —

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — When Missouri shifted more defensive attention to Yante Maten, Georgia’s outside shooters filled the scoring void.

J.J. Frazier scored 16 points to lead Georgia’s strong 3-point attack and the Bulldogs beat Missouri 77-59 on Wednesday night for their first Southeastern Conference win.

Frazier made four of six 3-pointers. Maten had 15 points, including 11 in the first eight minutes, and Charles Mann added 14 for Georgia (8-4, 1-1 SEC).

The Bulldogs made 11 of 19 3-pointers.

Georgia scored the first 10 points and never trailed. It led 45-32 at halftime and kept the lead around 20 points for most of the second half.

Freshman Kevin Puryear led Missouri (7-7, 0-1 SEC) with 19 points. Wes Clark had 13 and no other Tigers scored in double figures.

Missouri’s defense made it more difficult to pass the ball inside to Maten after the Bulldogs’ power forward had 11 of his team’s first 17 points. Georgia had outside options, including the 3-point shooting of Frazier, Mann and Kenny Gaines, who had 11 points.

“I think he’s the best post player in the conference,” said Mann of Maten.

Maten said he “just played within the offense” during his strong start. The emergence of Maten gives Georgia a strong inside-outside game. Maten said the team’s 3-point shooters should make it tough on SEC defenses to focus their attention on him.

“I think it’s going to be difficult because I can be a dominant post presence and if they’re worried about me, Kenny, J.J. and (Mann) can hit the 3s,” Maten said. “If they’re going well, it opens up my game.”

Maten has scored at least 20 points in six of his last nine games during his breakout season. He has emerged as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, with an average of 16.5 points.

“Tried to do everything I could to slow (Maten) down, and I think I did a decent job of that,” Puryear said.

The Tigers had a mini-rally with seven straight points midway through the second half to trim Georgia’s lead to 57-42. Mann hit a 3-pointer, followed by a basket by freshman Derek Ogbeide, to push the lead back to 20 points.

While Georgia enjoyed strong outside shooting, the Tigers made only 3 of 19 3-pointers. Namon Wright had nine points but missed each of his four 3s.

“I thought we had some looks early and we couldn’t hit them,” said Missouri coach Kim Anderson. “… I saw that we missed 13 close shots in the second half. That can’t happen.”

—

RECORD FOR MANN

Mann, a senior, made 2 of 3 free throws to pass Litterial Green’s school record of 744 career free-throw attempts. Mann has attempted 748.

“That’s not going to make my year, but I’m excited to be in Georgia basketball history forever,” Mann said.

Mann also had six assists with only one turnover and six rebounds.

“He was outstanding, he really was,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox of Mann. “I thought he played at both ends.”

Green became Georgia’s all-time scoring leader during his career from 1988-92.

TIP-INS

Missouri: The Tigers fell to 0-3 on the road. … Missouri couldn’t continue momentum gained from back-to-back wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Savannah State by a combined margin of 84 points. … Clark, coming off a career-high 22 points against Savannah State, scored in double figures for the fourth straight game.

Georgia: Kenny Paul Geno ended a 0-for-14 drought on 3-pointers, covering seven games, in the second half. … The Bulldogs won their fourth straight over Missouri. … Georgia made a season-best 54.7 percent of its shots from the field. … The 11 3s set a season high.

UP NEXT:

Missouri: Hosts Auburn on Saturday.

Georgia: At Mississippi on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball freshman forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, it was announced Tuesday. Porter scored 13 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds (five offensive) in the 88-71 victory over Charlotte on Dec. 29.

For the week, Porter averaged 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal vs. Charlotte and No. 12 Tennessee on Monday. She shot 50 percent (7-for-14) from the floor. Against Charlotte, she was 5-for-9 from the field, 3-for-4 from the foul line and added two assists and two steals.

Through 14 games, Porter is averaging 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.9 blocks per game. She is shooting a team-best 62 percent (52-for-84) from the floor to go along with a 78 percent (38-for-49) mark at the free throw line.

No. 20 Mizzou (13-1, 0-1) returns to action on Thursday evening with a 6 p.m. CT tipoff at Georgia (12-2, 0-1).

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Diamond DeShields had 11 points and nine rebounds and Bashaara Graves scored 10 with eight boards and four assists to help No. 12 Tennessee beat 20th-ranked Missouri 71-55 on Monday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Jaime Nared scored 13 points and Mercedes Russell added 11 points and seven rebounds for Tennessee (10-3).

DeShields made a layup and a jumper to spark a 9-0 run to open the third quarter and push the Tennessee lead to 42-26. The Lady Vols led by at least 14 the rest of the way.

“Our press helped us out a lot,” DeShields said. “Keeping them in the front court for so long, when they did cross half court they didn’t have a lot of time to set up their offense. The shots they did get off, they were quick, they were off balance a lot of times and they were contested.”

Tennessee forced 14 turnovers, including seven steals, which it converted into 19 points.

“I thought it was important,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said of the full-court press. “Whether we got a steal or not, a lot of times they were getting across and starting their offense with 20 seconds. I thought that was huge for us.”

Missouri (13-1) shot 32.8 percent (21 of 64) from the field and made just 2 of 21 (9.5 percent) from 3-point range — both season lows. Missouri came in ranked 15th in the nation in field goal percentage at 47 percent.

“It was a tough game for us,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “(Tennessee) came out as the aggressors. They kind of threw the first punch and we took it. I felt like we got outplayed in pretty much every phase of the game. I think we will learn from this. We’ll make some adjustments and we’ll be better because of it.”

After trailing by as many as 13 points, Missouri closed the second quarter on a 9-3 run and pulled within seven, 33-26, at the break. The Tigers made four of their final five shots while Tennessee missed eight in a row.

Jordan Frericks led Missouri with 11 points and eight rebounds. Sierra Michaelis scored 10.

Tennessee made 22 of 32 free throws while the Tigers hit 11 of 17.

—

TIP-INS

Tennessee: The Lady Vols have the second-toughest schedule in the nation, ranking behind only Southern University. … Tennessee leads the series 7-1. … DeShields has reached double-figure scoring in nine of the last 10 games.

Missouri: The Tigers cracked the Top 25 for the first time since Jan. 9, 2006. It is their highest ranking since Dec. 30, 1984. … Monday night’s attendance of 7,989 was the fourth-biggest in school history and the largest at Mizzou Arena, which opened in Nov. 2004.

UP NEXT

Missouri visits Georgia Thursday.

Tennessee hosts Florida Thursday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Kevin Puryear scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds as Missouri defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 78-25 on Tuesday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.

It’s the lowest scoring total by a Missouri opponent since the Tigers defeated Iowa State 36-25 on Jan. 3, 1947.

Wes Clark added 11 points, two rebounds and three assists, shooting 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Clark has made seven 3-pointers in the last two games after making only eight in Missouri’s first 10 games.

Jakeenan Gant had seven points and a team-best 11 rebounds, aiding the Tigers on their way to a 56-30 rebounding margin, their largest of the season.

Russell Woods made his first career start for Missouri (6-6), scoring six points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 15 minutes. His rebound total matches the career high he had in Missouri’s 68-63 loss to Illinois last Wednesday.

The Tigers dominated out of the gate, using a 30-7 run that lasted 12:20 to secure a 39-12 halftime lead.

The Golden Lions (2-12) shot 15.4 percent from the field, the lowest percentage by a Missouri opponent since Texas A&M shot 24.1 percent on March 14, 2013, a game the Tigers won 62-50.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Thaddeus Handley had a team-high eight points to go with two rebounds and JoVaughn Love had seven points and one rebound. Love entered the game as the Golden Lions’ leading scorer, averaging 10.7.

Missouri enjoyed its largest margin of victory since defeating South Carolina State 102-51 on Dec. 17, 2012.

K.J Walton made his second start of the season for Missouri, adding seven points and two rebounds. Walton’s first start was in the season-opener against Wofford, when he had six points and two rebounds in an 83-74 victory.

Despite not scoring, Devin Berry led the Golden Lions with a career-high 10 rebounds. Berry was averaging only 1.8 rebounds per game heading into this game.

TIP-INS

Arkansas-Pine Bluff: The Golden Lions are in the midst of an 18-game road streak to start their season. … Jaquan Lynch had his four-game streak of at least one made 3-pointer snapped. … Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 0-20 against Southeastern Conference opponents.

Missouri: The Tigers have outrebounded five of their last seven opponents, including double-digit margins against Illinois and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. … Missouri leads the series 5-0. … Adam Wolf logged a season-high five minutes, scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds.

UP NEXT

Arkansas-Pine Bluff visits Mississippi Valley State Monday.

Missouri hosts Savannah State Saturday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Playing in front of 6,154 fans at Mizzou Arena, Mizzou Women’s Basketball (13-0) extended its best start in program history and matched the longest win streak in program history on Tuesday evening with an 88-71 win over Charlotte (7-4). Four Tigers scored in double figures, led by junior forward Jordan Frericks (Quincy, Ill.), who posted her 20th double-double of her career with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

“I’m appreciative of all the fans that showed up tonight. It was an incredible atmosphere,” head coach Robin Pingeton said. “I’m really happy for our players to finish the nonconference schedule 13-0. It’s really exciting for us. I can assure you that we’re nowhere near satisfied with the big picture this season.”

Joining Frericks in double digits was junior guard Sierra Michaelis (Mercer, Mo.) with 14 points, freshman forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) with 13 points, and senior guard Juanita Robinson (Chicago, Ill.) with 12. Porter was one rebound away from a double-double, finishing with nine boards. Redshirt junior guard Lindsey Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) led the team in assists with five.

The Tigers dominated play inside the paint, outscoring Charlotte 38-24 inside the paint and outrebounding the 49ers, 42-31. Mizzou shot better than 50 percent from the field for the fifth time this season, converting 33-of-65 field goals (50.8 percent)

After an evenly matched first quarter, the Tigers trailed the 49ers 16-15. Charlotte scored the first basket of the second quarter, but Mizzou responded with a 20-4 run to gain the lead for the remainder of the game. By the end of the run, Mizzou had a 13-point lead, 35-22, with 3:06 to play in the first half. Lindsey Cunningham and Michaelis each had five points in the run. The Tigers shot 51.6 percent from the floor (16-of-31) in the half, outscored Charlotte 29-14 in the second quarter, and led 48-30 at the break.

Frericks scored 10 of her points and snagged 10 rebounds in the second half as the Tigers maintained its double-digit lead for the entire second half. Mizzou led by as much as 21 in the game, occurring twice in the second half. The first occurrence came after a three-pointer from Robinson with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter, and the second 31 seconds later after a successful jumper from Michaelis.

Mizzou will begin SEC play in its next contest, Monday, Jan. 4 against Tennessee. Tipoff from Mizzou Arena is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — There was no panic when the shots refused to fall for 9-1/2 minutes and the 20-point lead dwindled to just five.

Illinois survived the drought by turning up the intensity on the other end.

“To be honest, I don’t think we took that many bad shots,” said Malcolm Hill, who had 21 points in a 68-63 victory over Missouri in the annual Braggin’ Rights game on Wednesday night. “We didn’t tie that to our defense, and I think we did a great job sticking with it.”

Hill drove the baseline for a basket that ended the scoreless stretch and put Illinois up by seven with 6:52 to go, and hit a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer with just over five minutes left. Kendrick Nunn hit two free throws to clinch it with seven seconds remaining and Hill yanked off his jersey during the post-game celebration, mimicking the move by Rayvonte Rice last year after hitting the winning 3-pointer as time expired.

“The first 25 minutes we played about as well as we’ve played all year at both ends of the floor,” coach John Groce said. “The thing I was most proud about was our defense, by far.”

Nunn had 19 points and season-best 11 rebounds for his first double-double for Illinois (8-5), which has won five in a row overall and three straight in the neutral site series.

Wes Clark had a career best 21 points with four 3-pointers for Missouri (5-6), which has lost three in a row. Kevin Puryear added 12 points and Russell Woods had seven points and career-high 10 rebounds.

“We’ll take the good from it,” Clark said. “We know we have some fight.”

Illinois led 50-30 with 16:13 to go but missed 11 straight shots and three free throws while Missouri climbed back into it with a 15-0 run, including seven points from Clark.

“I tell him he has to be our go-to guy and tonight he brought it,” Woods said.

Nunn scored eight points — including back-to-back dunks — in a 14-2 run that put Illinois in control at 35-21 with 3:39 to go in the first half. A 9-3 run to open the second half seemingly put it out of reach.

TIP-INS

There were thousands of empty seats, especially in the upper bowl on the north side of the Scottrade Center, for what annually has been the toughest ticket in town. Enthusiasm waned with the two schools combining for a 12-10 record and neither ranked for the second straight year, although those in attendance included Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Missouri football coaches present and past, Barry Odom and Gary Pinkel.

Anderson said he had a lot more to worry about than attendance, but added:

“It’s the worst possible day of the year to play, Dec. 23,” Anderson said. “It’s still a great atmosphere — they lost five games, we lost five games, so maybe it didn’t have that luster.”

AS ADVERTISED

Illinois is dependent on Hill and Nunn, who entered averaging 18.5 and 18.4 points, and both delivered. Michael Finke added 16 points with a team-high three 3-pointers for the Fighting Illini, who overcame 40 percent shooting and a 43-32 rebounding deficit.

“When situations get tough, we’re looked upon to get the team going and keep the team together,” Hill said.

UP NEXT

Illinois: Dec. 30 at home against Michigan in Big Ten opener.

Missouri: Tuesday at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

— Associated Press —