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Frankie Hughes’ cold spell is probably unsustainable. Hooray!

Here are today’s Mizzou Links.

By Bill Connelly

“I think Frankie has always been 100 percent with this team,” junior forward Jordan Barnett said. “He went through some personal problems and he talked with his family. We’ve talked to him. He’s definitely 100 percent with this team. I’m glad to have him back. Outstanding player, really good shooter. He’s really going to help this team offensively down the road.”

— Post-Dispatch

“I talked to Frankie and he told me he wanted to be here,” freshman forward Mitchell Smith said. “That’s why he committed here. Frankie has a great attitude at practice and everything, so I think he’s going to stay.”

— KC Star

Mizzou begins SEC play tonight at 8pm CT against LSU in what is, per the numbers, the single most winnable league game the Tigers have on the schedule. They are hoping to use the SEC season as a reset button of sorts, but the players who met the media yesterday had to deal with not only questions about their current four-game losing streak, but also whether there was another likely transfer on the horizon.

NCAA Basketball: Missouri vs Illinois Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Hours before Mizzou announced that Willie Jackson was transferring, rumors were suggesting that both Jackson and Frankie Hughes had left. Hughes evidently came back at the last second, and obviously that’s going to make some wonder about his long-term commitment. There was clearly some talking-point work done with the above quotes, but ... well, they were good quotes. And hopefully Hughes does stay.

Like Teki Gill-Caesar (who, yes, transferred), Hughes was asked to do far too much scoring work from the moment his freshman season began. He’s always been a volume shooter of sorts, it appears, but because of the total lack of pure offensive talent on this team, he was given no leash. He took 34 shots (22 3-pointers) in his first two college games, and his 24 points against Xavier were a major cause of Mizzou’s near-upset. (That game feels like a year and a half ago, doesn’t it?)

He made nine 3s in those two games. Since then, he's 14-for-64 (21.9%) from long range. Meanwhile, he made 13 of 25 (52%) 2-pointers in his first four games; since then: 8 of 33 (24.2%). That's incredible. It's also probably unsustainably bad. Hughes has lost all confidence and all bearings regarding what is and isn’t a good shot. His development, however, could be worth a game or two in conference play.

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