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Mizzou Basketball News: SEC Opener and Jim Sterk

Jan 4, 2017; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Reed Nikko (14) is attended to by medical staff after an injury during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2017; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Reed Nikko (14) is attended to by medical staff after an injury during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mizzou basketball news revolves around the team’s loss in their first game of SEC play and also about the statement from Missouri Athletic Director Jim Sterk on the current state of the Missouri Tigers basketball program.

It hasn’t been easy for Mizzou basketball fans. The Tigers have continued to falter this season, most recently dropping their first game in conference play, a game in which they were favorites in.

To make matters worse, the Athletic Director decided to send a somewhat confusing message to the university, the fan base, and the program itself. Jim Sterk, who was hired by Missouri in September, made his comments public before the game against LSU took place.

Sterk addressed that he was aware of how poorly the program had been doing under head coach Kim Anderson, but stated that it’s “not his style” to make evaluations of the staff during the season. He also got on the fans for not showing up to the games, which is baffling to me.

The reason that fans aren’t showing up to the games is because they have no reason to. Mizzou basketball is horrendous, dropping home games to North Carolina Central, Eastern Illinois, and Lipscomb. I hadn’t heard of two of those schools until this season when they became well-known in the state of Missouri due to these losses.

Also, it’s a little more understandable that no one showed up to the game on Wednesday, as a snowstorm was about to start brewing in Columbia.

Mizzou basketball hasn’t had any success while Anderson has been the coach there, going 24-51 under the former Tiger star. It’d be tough to find someone wanting the Missouri job in all honesty, but that’s just something that Sterk and the rest of the program is going to have to figure out.

Fans keep saying it can’t get any worse, yet it keeps getting worse.

Here’s what’s trending in Mizzou basketball news around the web.

More from KC Kingdom

Mizzou Basketball: The Nightmare Continues for Tigers [Leigh Oleszczak, KC Kingdom]

"Watching Mizzou play is not fun. They don’t really do anything well and at times, it looks like they couldn’t care less about the outcome of the game."

Mizzou AD addresses basketball program, won’t publicly evaluate Anderson [Dave Matter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Jim Sterk ‘disappointed’ with state of Mizzou basketball, offers support [Tod Palmer, The Kansas City Star]

Mizzou basketball drops fifth-straight game, loses to LSU 88-77 [Jade Washburn, FOX Sports]

"In the 2015-16 season, Missouri was 9-0 when leading at halftime, and 0-23 when tied or trailing. This season, Missouri has lost three games in which it led at halftime, including a 67-64 home loss to Eastern Illinois."

I feel like every time I write a post revolving around Mizzou basketball that I say, “It can’t get much worse”, yet somehow, it keeps getting worse. This is easily one of the worst struggles the program has ever had and it’s beginning to enter the minds of fans if the basketball team will ever rebound (pun intended) from this.

Next: Five Best Mizzou Quarterbacks of All-Time

Hang with your team, Mizzou fans. Someday it’ll be worth it.