COLUMBIA, S.C. — Trailing by nine with under 11 minutes to go, Missouri had it. The Tigers knew they had it.
“No question about feeling confident,” said coach Cuonzo Martin, whose team had erased a 20-point deficit with 13:33 to go in Tuesday’s win over Georgia. “Just settle down and this is how we can score the ball. But then you have to get stops.”
The Tigers didn’t get nearly enough Saturday in a 76-54 loss to South Carolina, halting their winning streak at one and giving them their fifth loss in six games. Again without injured starters Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon — Martin said each is day-to-day — the Tigers had no answers for Gamecocks forward Maik Kotsar, who scored 21 points and blocked four shots.