After splitting its first two road games of the season, No. 9-Missouri (15-1, 1-1 Big 12) heads home to the friendly confines of Mizzou Arena.
The Tigers have two games in three days, beginning with Texas on Saturday and then Texas A&M on Monday before they hit the road again.
For Frank Haith, heading home is a welcome relief in the grueling Big 12 road schedule, where every venue is a challenge.
"You got to match, not match, you've got to exceed their intensity (on the road)," Haith said after the loss in Manhattan, Kan., on Saturday. "In order to win on the road, you've got to play (with) a little bit more toughness. You can't win if you're not tough."
Missouri brings some of Haith's required toughness home with it for Saturday. Against Iowa State and star post player Royce White, Missouri held the Cyclones frontcourt to 13 rebounds, and no player had more than six. That came as the Tigers' shuffled players in and out of its seven-man rotation because of foul trouble.
Mizzou Arena was sold-out for Missouri's Big 12 opener against Oklahoma, prompting Haith and the athletic department to send a thank you letter to students for the support over the holiday break. Because of that support, Mizzou Arena has been a tough place to play. At home, Missouri has won 61 of its last 64 games, with all three losses coming against conference foes. In 2008-2009, the Tigers were undefeated at home. Last year, their lone home loss came to Kansas.
Meanwhile, Missouri hosts two teams that are off to underwhelming starts this season. The Longhorns are 12-4 after a Wednesday night win against the Aggies, but are just 1-2 on the road. The Aggies, meanwhile, are 9-6 and 0-2 on the road.
After the loss against Kansas State, Haith said his team needs to play with "a little moxie" on the road. With two home games in a row, Missouri looks to build up a supply of that moxie before its biggest road test of the early season.
That comes on Jan. 21, against undefeated and ultra-athletic Baylor.
Tigers clean up sloppy board play
After getting manhandled on the glass against Kansas State, a small Missouri team rebounded against Iowa State. In Manhattan, the Wildcats out-rebounded the Tigers 36-22. In Ames, Missouri nearly flipped that, out-rebounding the Cyclones 36-25. That came with Missouri's two big men battling foul trouble all game. Ricardo Ratliffe and Steve Moore combined for 17 rebounds in 40 total minutes. Moore fouled out with under four minutes remaining.
Against Kansas State, Missouri G Phil Pressey had his first game of the season with more turnovers than assists. On Wednesday, Pressey returned to form, finishing with five assists to only two turnovers.
Steve Moore narrowly missed the first double-double of his career. He finished with 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out after only 16 minutes of game time. The ten points matched a career high, and his nine rebounds established a new career best. His previous highest rebounding total was seven.
Missouri's last road win over a Big 12 team with a conference record above .500 came on Feb. 4, 2009. The Tigers traveled to Austin and beat the Longhorns 69-65, dropping Texas' conference record to 4-3 at the time. On Wednesday, Missouri beat Iowa State, which was previously 2-0 in conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS: 32.7 percent -- Missouri's shooting accuracy in the loss at Kansas State. The Tigers entered with a season average of 51 percent.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It is hard to get your defense going when you are not scoring. Even though we were not scoring (against Kansas State), we still want to try and focus in on stops on the defensive end. We could not get rebounds or stops." -- Missouri G Marcus Denmon.
