COLUMBIA - Already preparing for a tournament in Orlando without Michael Porter Jr., Missouri will now have to go a lot longer than that, possibly the whole season, without the top-ranked recruit.
The program announced Tuesday afternoon Porter Jr. would need back surgery to repair damage to his third and fourth lumbar vertebrae, spinal discs he either damaged or further aggravated after a fall during practice before the start of the regular season.
The recovery period for the surgery is 3-4 months, and a late February return would give Porter Jr. two games to play before the start of the SEC tournament March 7 in St. Louis.
All eyes in the program are now focused on Missouri's 10:30 a.m. Thursday matchup with Long Beach State in the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla. The 49ers are 2-2 in their 11th season under Dan Monson after finishing 15-19 a season ago. The 49ers lost to Oregon State 89-81 on Saturday and to No. 23 West Virginia 91-62 on Monday. The Mountaineers and Beavers are also participating in the Invitational.
Bryan Alberts, Gabe Levin and Barry Ogalue lead the way for the 49ers, averaging 16.5, 14.5 and 13.5 points per game, respectively. Alberts, a 6-5 junior, is the team's sharpshooter: he's taken 35 threes, almost nine per game and twice that of the next highest player on the team, and has made 45.7 percent of those attempts so far. Levin, a 6-7 senior, is LBSU's post presence. He's averaging 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game and is good at getting to the foul line. Ogalue, a 6-5 senior guard/forward combo, is shooting 53 percent from the floor in the early part of the season.
"I watched them quite a bit when I was in California," head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "They make plays and don't lack confidence at all. We'll get our money's worth."
Levin, 6-8 junior Mason Riggins and 6-9 sophomore LaRond Williams will be dealt the tough task of controlling Missouri's taller front court. Jontay Porter, Jeremiah Tilmon and Reed Nikko are all at least an inch taller than the 49ers' tallest player, and they'll get their fair share of touches. The Tigers under Martin are fond of going inside even when perimeter shots are falling, and when guards go cold Missouri's offense becomes even more limited, relying heavily on paint touches and foul shots to score.
Kevin Puryear is the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.3 points per game, followed by Kassius Robertson's 13 points per game despite his recent cold streak. Porter has looked at times like Missouri's best player coming off the bench, averaging 8.3 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes per game. Blake Harris and Nikko have also played well when needed off the bench.
So far this season, 43.1 percent of Missouri's scoring has come from 2-point shots, 34.9 percent from threes and 22 percent from free throws.
Against Utah and Emporia State, however, those numbers look a little different. The breakdown against the Utes (44.1 percent twos, 30.5 percent free throws, 25.4 percent threes) and Hornets (62.7 percent from twos, 28.4 percent from free throws, 8.9 percent from threes) paints a different picture.
Martin has a reputation as a defense-first coach, and, apart from the Utah game and especially late against Emporia State, the Tigers were able to lock down and get defensive stops when necessary.
"The one thing I always say to our guys is 'Defend, rebound, play hard. Don't hang your hat on whether or not your shot is falling,'" Martin said. "Don't allow that to be the gauge."