Step 1 to improving for Missouri: Get Namon Wright off the schneid

What's On

Welcome back, Namon.

Whatever the best version of Missouri's basketball team is this year, it features Namon Wright making 3-pointers (and continuing to grab defensive rebounds) and Wes Clark scoring like he's been scoring (or close to it). If Wright is close to getting off the schneid, Mizzou could at least play like a top-150 team or so, right?

MUtigers.com: @MizzouHoops Finishes Nonconference Play with Dominant Win
The Trib: Clark leads Missouri's rout of Savannah State

Clark playing well can eliminate some of the pressure on Missouri’s younger players, whether it’s freshman point guard Terrence Phillips, who had seven points and six assists Saturday; freshman swingman K.J. Walton, who added 10 points in his third career start; or freshman forward Kevin Puryear, the team’s season scoring leader, who had eight points and four rebounds.

That also goes for sophomore Namon Wright, who came off the bench for the second straight game and notched 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting. It was his highest scoring output since he had 14 points in a Dec. 1 victory over Arkansas State.

"What I’m trying to do is just piggyback off of Wes. He didn’t play the best he could for a couple of games throughout the season, and he’s got it going," said Wright, who added a career-high eight rebounds. "I’m trying to do the same thing as he’s doing within the flow of the game and don’t force anything."

Post-Dispatch: Clark powers Tigers in nonconference finale
PowerMizzou: Clark leads Mizzou again

Biiiiiiiiiig game at Mizzou Arena this evening

MUtigers.com: #23 @MizzouWBB Opens SEC Play Against #13 Tennessee Monday
Post-Dispatch: Mizzou women to get test from Tennessee

Under sixth-year coach Robin Pingeton, the 23rd-ranked Tigers swept nonconference play for the first time in team history and now launch into eight weeks of SEC action. Monday’s 6 p.m. tipoff against the No. 13 Lady Vols on SEC Network won’t make or break MU’s season, but it could validate the unprecedented buildup and officially announce the arrival of a program on the rise.

"It’s a new feeling," said Sarah Reesman, Mizzou’s executive associate athletics director. "People are really talking about the team and it’s generating a buzz....

"Robin’s had a plan all along. ... Injuries last year really set that back a bit, but this is what we anticipated when we hired her."

The year ahead

PowerMizzou: Looking Ahead: 2016's top stories

Bud Sasser's trying to do some cool things in his hometown

Today was Bud Sasser day in Denton. Former Tiger giving back to his home town. https://t.co/yhfUa6DzhW

— Gabe DeArmond (@GabeDeArmond) January 4, 2016

Tigers dive well

MUtigers.com: Mizzou Divers Open Georgia Diving Invitational With Three Top-Six Finishes