No. 18 Missouri men’s basketball took care of business a little differently than usual in Tuesday evening’s 75-70 victory over Kentucky.

After a game where coach Cuonzo Martin’s squad rode the hot hands of junior guard Xavier Pinson, senior forward Jeremiah Tilmon and the rest of the starting lineup to 97 of its 102 points, the Tigers distributed the scoring more evenly between the starters and bench players.

Missouri had to rely on bench production when the Wildcats started double or triple-teaming Tilmon in the post and sophomore forward Kobe Brown got into foul trouble. The team needed more than five points off the bench, all of which were from senior guard Mark Smith.

Tuesday’s bench production was a major step up for the Tigers. Twenty-three of the team’s 75 points came from the bench and all four substitutes — Mark Smith, redshirt senior forward Mitchell Smith, redshirt sophomore forward Parker Braun and graduate transfer Drew Buggs — recorded at least one field goal.

“Having those guys come in and playing confident makes the other teams respect them,” redshirt senior guard Dru Smith said. “They have to guard them because they understand that they’re coming in, they’re gonna also be a threat to score.”

The two main contributors were the Smiths: Mark Smith and Mitchell Smith, who each stepped up in the place of Brown, who had to sit most of the game with foul trouble, and junior guard Javon Pickett, who sat out a stretch after coming up limp on a defensive possession in the second half.

Martin replaced Mark Smith in the starting lineup Saturday after the senior guard struggled to knock down shots from long range at a consistent clip since conference play commenced.

Missouri’s head honcho is not one for switching around his rotation often, but he felt transitioning Mark Smith into a bench role with the minutes of a starter.

“He’s pressing so hard and now he’s not productive,” Martin said following Saturday’s game. “We want him shooting the ball, his teammates want him shooting the ball. We need him to breathe, relax and hopefully regroup.

Mark Smith looked like his non-conference self, knocking down 3-5 from 3-point range and contributed 11 points, including a mid-range jumper at the shot clock buzzer to halt Kentucky’s momentum late.

The guard, who averaged 10.4 points per game entering Tuesday, said there wasn’t much difference to his game whether he was coming off the bench or was on the court for the opening tipoff.

“It’s not that big,” Mark Smith said. “When I’m open, I shoot it and try to knock my shots down. It really doesn’t change too much for me.”

Mitchell Smith only produced five points in his 28 minutes of action, but he was a star on the defensive end with 12 rebounds while he limited Kentucky to just two second-chance points.

“I thought this was good and I even thought that the threes that he missed were good shots, but we need that,” Martin said. “We need him to be a guy that can make shots from the perimeter now we just get a couple more to go down. I think it takes us to another level as a team.”

Mitchell Smith had to battle a team that is proficient at rebounding and averaged 12.6 offensive rebounds per game, a top 40 mark in the nation. The Wildcats had six different players who averaged at least one offensive rebound per contest coming in, but Mitchell Smith, alongside Tilmon, limited the Wildcats to just six offensive rebounds on the evening.

“We’re always looking for somebody to just come in and kill the glass thing,” Dru Smith said. “Mitch always comes in and brings good energy, especially on the defensive end, and I mean we’re thankful for what he did tonight.”

Aside from the Smiths, Braun, who has been sparsely used in Southeastern Conference play, made both shots he took to end with five points, three rebounds and two blocks in just 12 minutes of action. Buggs only received eight minutes of playing time but he recorded a bucket.

Missouri and Kentucky are two teams with opposite experience levels. Most of Missouri’s players have chemistry built up through the years while Kentucky has been trying to figure out its identity with a group of highly-talented freshmen and transfers who have no chemistry.

On Tuesday, age, experience and depth prevailed for the Tigers.

“Everybody has a role to play in order for us to be successful,” Martin said. “Everybody plays a part in what we do. It doesn’t matter who’s out, but we need all of our parts to be successful.”

_Edited by Anna Cowden | acowden@themaneater.com_