Did some people tune into the Mizzou-Oklahoma NCAA Tournament game thinking that if the Tigers lost, Cuonzo Martin should lose his job? I sure didn’t, and I surely don’t think MU athletics director Jim Sterk did, yet many fans online are furious — or at least frustrated — that Martin will continue to coach the Tigers.
It just seems weird that this one eight-seed vs. nine-seed game evoked emotions like it has. Look, it was a rough loss. I wrote about it in this column space after the game — Mizzou blew chances to take over the contest, Xavier Pinson was off and awful, the wrong Tigers forced (and missed) too many 3s and, on the pivotal possession, Mizzou was out-strategized. But Martin should remain Missouri’s coach. The season was a success, even though the postseason, yet again, didn’t include a win.
The Tigers finished 16-10 and with a .615 winning percentage, the best since the 2013-14 team (.657). They made the tournament, so Martin has done that twice in his first four years — consider that in the three years before his arrival, Mizzou averaged nine wins. Not nine wins in conference play. Nine wins.
