COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Dru Smith hopes all of Missouri’s players-only meetings lead to this.
Smith said the 20th-ranked Tigers met without coaches heading into Saturday’s game against South Carolina simply to make sure they were all of one mind heading down the season’s final stretch.
Missouri certainly looked in synch, with Smith scoring 17 and Mark Smith 13 as the Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 93-78 victory over struggling South Carolina.
“You want to get everything out there,” said Dru Smith, the redshirt senior. “Anything that’s going to help us, we want to get it out in the air.”
The result was a hot-shooting, defensive-minded performance, with Missouri playing as it has for most of the season.
“It was great for our guys to get that win,” coach Cuonzo Martin said.
The Tigers (14-6, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) opened up a 19-point lead in the first half and stayed comfortably in front the rest of the way to sweep the Gamecocks (5-11, 3-9), who lost their fifth consecutive game.
Missouri will face Mississippi at home Tuesday night, 7:30 with the pregame and tip at 8:00 on 93.7 KTUF.