Struggling Missouri sends South Carolina on first losing streak

It took three months for South Carolina to lose consecutive games Tuesday night and the latest setback is damaging to the Gamecocks’ resume.

On the day starting point guard Wes Clark was dismissed from Missouri, the Tigers rallied together to upset South Carolina 72-67. Senior big man Ryan Rosburg led the way for the Tigers once again, scoring 18 points with five rebounds.

Rosburg has averaged 20 points per game over the past four games for Missouri as he sees the end of his career approaching. Missouri won’t play in the postseason this year because it’s not good enough but also because of self-imposed penalties following NCAA violations that occurred under former coach Frank Haith.

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Rosburg scored in double figures a total of five times in his career prior to this four-game stretch. South Carolina coach Frank Martin gave Rosburg a strong compliment after the game.

“I wish my senior center played with the same urgency he plays with,” Martin said.

While the Gamecocks now have a losing streak for the first time this season, Missouri has won consecutive games in the SEC for the first time as Kim Anderson continues a difficult rebuilding project. Missouri recently endured a nine-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Martin and his team are in no danger of missing the NCAA Tournament next month, but entering the week the Gamecocks’ poor strength of schedule already was dragging it down to a No. 7 seed in our projections, and losing to a team that is 10-16 overall and 3-10 in the SEC won’t help them move up.

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Martin can be fiery and it probably wasn’t a pleasant postgame experience for the South Carolina players Tuesday and the rest of the week won’t be any fun either as the Gamecocks prepare to host Florida on Saturday.

South Carolina was out rebounded by an inferior team and outplayed in general. Martin acknowledged as much postgame. The Gamecocks didn’t shoot particularly well, aside from Duane Notice, who knocked down five of seven 3-pointers and led the team with 21 points off the bench, and they failed to play with a sense of urgency. That part will likely be the focus for Martin as he tries to get his team back on track between games.

Martin didn’t seem too disturbed by the loss though. He was able to have a little fun at Rosburg’s expense as well. Rosburg looks older than most of the players he plays against and Martin couldn’t help but notice.

“Is he as old as I am?,” Martin asked. “I thought I coached against him when (Michael) Beasley was on my team at K-State.”

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo