On March 20th, Missouri Tigers earned a 10-seed in the NCAA tournament and faced the 7-seed Miami Hurricanes in the first round Friday night at 9-10 p.m. Central Time in St. Louis at Enterprise Center. Both teams head into the matchup on losing streaks after early exits from their conference tournaments, with Missouri dropping a three-game skid and Miami suffering a big loss to Virginia.
The Tigers boasted a 20-12 record after finishing 10-8 in the SEC, while Miami turned things around with 25 wins and a third-place ACC finish under first-year coach Jai Lucas. Fans in Columbia get a boost from the home court field since the arena sits just 125 miles east of campus, marking Missouri's first tournament game in St. Louis since 1982. These programs last met in the 2002 tourney, where a 12-seed Missouri pulled off an upset win over the fifth-seeded Hurricanes.
Watch for a marquee battle between Missouri's senior forward, Mark Mitchell, averaging over 18 points, and Miami's Malik Renaud, who's right there. With him in scoring, rebounding and three-point shooting could decide it, as both squads hover around similar efficiencies on offense and defense. Expect a close one that snaps somebody's slump, with Missouri looking prime to advance on homish turf and build momentum into the weekend.