FSU basketball Q&A: Get to know the Missouri Tigers

It's been 37 years since the last time Florida State played Missouri in basketball, but that'll change on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The No. 9 seed Seminoles will take on the No. 8 seed Tigers at 9:50 p.m. in Nashville, Tennessee.

Missouri beat writer Cameron Robinson from the Columbia Daily Tribune spoke with the Tallahassee Democrat to give us an inside look at what FSU fans can expect from the Tigers on Friday.

Q. What does the loss of Jordan Barnett mean to Missouri?

A. The biggest thing is his shooting ability. He’s their second best three-point shooter at 41 percent. He’s their second best scorer. At times offensively he just seems checked out and doesn’t get up shots or touch the ball, but when he’s playing well he’s a very good second option for Kassius Robertson. That’s the biggest thing there. They’re losing a very talented three-point shooter. Defensively, he’s improved a lot lately. It’s tough for them because he does so much for them offensively spacing wise and is really their best spot-up shooter. When you lose that it’s really tough for Missouri because one of their biggest strengths is their three-point shooting with the ability to knock it down at a really high volume. When they don’t knock them down they kind of struggle offensively.

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Q. How does having Michael Porter Jr. back change the dynamic of what Missouri puts on the court?

A. The biggest thing is that Missouri has a playmaker that can go find his own shot. At times this year without Michael the offense has been stagnant. They didn’t have a guy that could go make a play or get a basket, and he gives them that. He’s a tremendous shooter. He shot poorly against Georgia, but that was his first game back. He’s a very capable shooter. He’s able to replace what you lose in Jordan Barnett, but he’s also a guy that can play one through five. He’s a guy that can play in the post and you can run a few things there. He can also handle the ball, drive, and cut. He does a lot when he’s healthy and locked in.

Q. How will FSU’s length affect what Missouri does on offense?

A. It’ll be tough because Missouri isn’t very deep right now. With Jordan Barnett gone, they lost Cullen VanLeer to a torn ACL, they’re going to have to play a walk-on, and their guards aren’t big. That’s another thing that Barnett gave you, a 6-foot-6 guard that you could leave in the whole game because he never really got tired. Missouri likes to go inside-out and feed Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter inside to open up the three. Texas A&M is long, similar to Florida State, and gave them trouble the first time they met. Getting over that length and shooting over that length, and playing against that length without fouling will probably be the toughest task for them on Friday.

Q. What will Missouri try to do offensively with Barnett out?

A. I don’t think losing Barnett does too much to change what their offensive philosophy is because if Michael Porter Jr. is to start you’ve got a player that is honestly better. He’s a tremendous shooter as well. I think they’ll start going inside out. Jeremiah Tilman is an exceptional post player. 6-foot-10, very strong. He can move people off the block and has very good footwork. Just the threat of him makes people double him, and his passing ability opens up a lot of things for Missouri. I don’t think they’ll change anything. They’ll try to stick to the inside-out aspect. Maybe go inside to Jontay Porter when he comes off the bench because he’s a tremendous scorer and passer as well. Those two guys will probably be the focal point, which is why Missouri needs to stay out of foul trouble. That’s been a very big problem in a lot of games this year.

Q. What type of pace does Missouri like to run at?

A. They seem to play at whatever tempo is going on, but they’d like to slow teams down. They’ve played a lot of slow-paced games. Missouri is a defensive minded team first. They’re going to be gritty and physical with you. That’s why they have so many fouls, but they want to slow you down defensively and get into some half-court sets on offense. I would imagine their gameplan would be to slow the pace down, especially knowing Florida State can go so much deeper than Missouri can go.