For the first time since November, Missouri men’s basketball has won consecutive games. 

Playing for their season, and perhaps their coach’s job, the Tigers did just enough to push past Ole Miss in a 72-60 victory in the first round of the SEC conference tournament.

“It was a great win for our team.” head coach Cuonzo Martin said postgame. “It’s not easy beating a team three times in a row.”

Per usual, their biggest contributor was Kobe Brown, who, after starting very quietly, caught fire in the second half for 12 points and a co-game-high 16 points. Many of those points came from in close, which Cuonzo Martin noted postgame. 

“40 points in the paint against a team that plays a physical brand is impressive.”

Ole Miss consistently double-teamed Brown in the first half, which Martin said is fine with him. 

“We want him doubled. Late in the first half we started to make shots around him.”

Mizzou’s biggest contributor offensively in the first half came from a surprising source. Ronnie DeGray III hit a trio of threes early, which opened up the rest of the offense.

“It felt like the rim was the ocean and everything was going in,” DeGray said.

Guard and Ole Miss’ leading scorer Jarkel Joiner had a big first half for Ole Miss, posting 10 points. However, the Tigers held him to 1-7 from the floor in the second half.

Missouri will take on a familiar foe in round two tomorrow against LSU. Not only did they lose to them by 20 just two weeks ago, but LSU also features former Mizzou point guard Xavier Pinson. 

Cuonzo Martin knows Pinson very well, but knows that he isn’t the only one to focus on. 

“They’re a great team, there’s a lot of guys to watch. It’s not just one guy.”

KCOU 88.1 FM will have game two from Tampa live tomorrow at 1:30.