Missouri Tigers' NCAA Tournament Journey Begins

0:00On March 16, Missouri Tigers are back in the NCAA tournament for the third time in four seasons under Coach Dennis Gates. They grab the ten-seat in the West region and face the seven-seat Miami Hurricanes on Friday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. A win sends them against the two-seat Purdue Boilermakers next. This is the first back-to-back tournament appearance for Missouri since the 2012-13 season. Last year they fell in the first round to Drake. The Tigers wrapped a regular play with three straight losses, including a tight one to Kentucky in the SEC tournament. Players and coaches feel confident about their resume. Missouri notched key SEC victories over Florida, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Those wins helped them skip the play-in and started home in front of their fans. Miami comes in strong at 25 and 8 overall, with a solid 13 and 5 mark in the ACC. They topped the conference in field goal percentage at 50.1% and ranked second in rebounding margin.

1:03Forward, Maliquanau paced them with 18.8 points in 6.6 rebounds per game. The St. Louis match-up adds extra buzz from Missouri as the aim to build on recent success and chase a deeper run through a tough West bracket.