Sacramento, CA — After a full season of extreme achievement, Missouri got another chance to prove itself, this time on college basketball’s biggest stage. The Tigers make their 29th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history this week as the No. 7 seed in the South Region, hoping to earn their first win in the Big Dance since 2010.
They will face No. 10 seed Utah State, a team that finished as runner-up in the Mountain West Conference. The Aggies are likely to be sleeper upset picks in several March Madness bracket pools across the country. No. 7 seeds only beat No. 10 seeds about 60% of the time. Vegas oddsmakers favor Utah State by a slim margin. ESPN’s Jai Bilas Predicted the Aggies to come out with a win. Team head coach ryan odomIn 2018 pulled off one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, leading the No. 16 UMBC Retrievers to upset No. 1 seed Virginia.
Utah State plays a similar style to Mizzou, moving the ball in transition and taking a high number of 3-pointers – both teams rank among the top 15 in the nation in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating. The Aggies are just a little more efficient.
Odom said, “They have five guys who can dribble, pass and shoot.” “To be honest, we love that too. This team doesn’t necessarily have that, our team. Last year’s team did. We had five guys at all times that our center could start the offense and make it Could bring up. They have that. Of course, that makes it extremely challenging.”
sport is very important dennis gates, This is his first tournament appearance as the head coach of MU. He has a chance to lead the Tigers to their 25th win for the first time since the 2011-12 season. He’s going up against a Utah State team he’s seen several times before when he was an assistant coach at Nevada from 2009-11. He is attending a game just 77 miles from where he plays college basketball at Cal-Berkeley. He invited his old coach, ben braunTo come out and watch Mizzou play.
Thursday’s game is one the team has been building on all season. Gates is eager to see his team do their best.
“Finally, man, I’m grateful to be here,” Gates said. “We have nothing but respect for our opponent. We will always do those things. May the best team win. They will have scouting reports, we will have scouting reports. It will be a great environment to have both the institutions with their schools, Excited to represent our conference and also creating memories for the youngsters.
tip time information
Missouri (24-9, 11-7 SEC) vs. Utah State (26-8, 13-5 MWC)
When: 10:40 amPT/12:40 pm CT
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
TV: TNT
series: tied at 1-1
Line: Utah State -1.5
Kenpom Prediction: Utah State 82, Missouri 79
projected starters
by the numbers
Best lineup of last 5 matches (per CBB Analytics)
Sean East II-D’Moi Hodge-DeAndre Gholston-Noah Carter-Kobe Brown
Minutes played: 24
Offensive Rating: 141.4
Defensive Rating: 87.8
Net Rating: +53.6
game key
1. “Go back and make sure we lock down on our guys and shooters and make sure they don’t have open formations,” said assistant coach Dickey Nutt. Utah State is one of the top shooting teams in the country. The team ranks 60th in the nation according to Kenpom, with 42.1% of field goal attempts coming from long range. Triples accounted for 35.1% of the Aggies’ points. They hit 38.5% of their 3s, which ranks 11th in the NCAA. Four different players steven ashworth, Max Shulga, Sean Bairstow And taylor funk – Shooting at least 36% from the arc. And playing at the speed they do, it can be tough to keep track of all four shooters. Negating USU’s good looks from the outside has been crucial in nearly all of the team’s losses, as the Aggies have only connected on 30.5% of their 3-pointers in their eight losses. It will be important again on Thursday.
2. Turn over Utah State. The Aggies do not have the same type of athletes that the SEC schools have. Instead, the team relied heavily on ball speed to get the defense in motion, assisting on 62.3% of its field goals, ranking 10th in the country. Despite the number of passes thrown by the team, USU does not turn the ball over at a high clip, turning it over on just 17.4% of the rest. Ashworth is a big reason why, with the junior starting point guard posting a 2.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio this year. Turnover margin has been a big factor in Mizzou’s most important games of the year — the Tigers were plus-3 in their win over Tennessee in the SEC quarterfinals and plus-13 in their semifinal against Alabama. To throw the Aggies out of rhythm, Missouri will need to disrupt the natural flow of their offense.
3. Go to Paint. Utah State is one of the better teams in the country defending the rim, with the Aggies only allowing opponents to shoot 45.9% on 2-pointers, ranking 36th in the NCAA. But Mizzou is one of the best internal scoring teams in the country, making 55.9%, ranked 13th. The Tigers struggled against Alabama, shooting only 37.2% against the Crimson Tide. But he sank 64.5% of his 2s against Tennessee, which proved to be the difference in the eight-point victory. USU boasts similar height to Alabama, with all three of its starters listed at 6-foot-8 or taller in the front court. But only one player, the starting center travin doriesListed at 240 pounds – 10 pounds lighter than Missouri’s leading scorer kobe brown and fellow senior forward only five pounds heavier Noah Carter, No one else on the Aggies’ roster comes within 10 pounds of Brown or Carter, both of whom shoot 60% on 2-pointers. While the Tigers won’t necessarily have a height advantage, they should have a size advantage in order to have an advantage in the post.
Stay up to date with all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription
talk about this story in more tiger’s lair
Make sure you’re up to date on all the Tiger news and headlines
Subscribe to our Youtube Channel For video and live streaming coverage
Everyone here already has (or should have) insurance. Everyone here cheers (or they should) for the Tigers. There is zero issue of hot buttons in college sports. A school can no longer compete the way it did just a few short years ago without a strong NIL collective. Inflation is the most important issue in our economy. Here is your opportunity to see about saving money that the state is required to put on your car and that your lender is required to put on your home. Oh and by the way, just one quote from James’ office will receive a donation on your behalf to PowerMizzou’s fund with the Every True Tiger Foundation, Mizzou’s favorite NIL Collective. Blink if you like saving money. Blink twice if you want to do everything you can to make your favorite college program as competitive as possible in the SEC. Call James’ office at 314-961-4800 or get a quote online www.carltoninsurance.net,
“If your insurance costs a leg and an arm, call James Carlton State Farm.”
