COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Mark Smith wasn’t surprised he scored a season-high 23 points to lead Missouri to a 64-48 victory over Southern Illinois on Sunday. He felt so good in pregame warm-ups, he knew something big was coming.
“But I always think that,” he admitted.
Smith, a junior guard, has never questioned himself despite an up-and-down start to the season. Smith led the Southeastern Conference in 3-point accuracy last year, shooting 45%. He entered Sunday’s game making 35.1% of his 3s, but he made 7 of 9 shots from beyond the arc against the Salukis.
“I don’t think Mark lacks confidence, because he’ll keep shooting, as you can see,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said.
Javon Pickett came off the bench to score 13 for Missouri (6-4) in his second straight double-figure scoring game. Point guard Dru Smith scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Eric McGill led Southern Illinois (4-7) with 11 points.
Mark Smith broke open a close game midway through the first half by hitting four straight 3-pointers. On the last one, he pulled up on a fast break and kept his right hand extended as the ball swished through the net, giving Missouri a 21-9 lead and forcing a Southern Illinois timeout.
“We had him down as their best shooter and the guy we couldn’t leave,” SIU coach Bryan Mullins said. “That was disappointing to see.”
McGill hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut Missouri’s lead to 33-22 at halftime.
The Tigers’ advantage grew to 56-31 with 9:12 left in the game when Mark Smith sank his sixth 3-pointer. Missouri held the Salukis to 29.4% shooting and outrebounded them 37-21. SIU made just 10 field goals in the game but made 23 of 26 free throws.
“They had a lot of length on the perimeter, and that bothered our offensive execution,” Mullins said. “We’ve got to do a better job of playing downhill. We were playing east-west too much today.”
