UTAH STATE AGGIES
Similar To Utah State, Missouri Lacks Recent NCAA Tournament Success
SACRAMENTO, California – Entering their fourth NCAA tournament in the past five seasons, Utah State hopes to break their NCAA curse against the No. 23 Missouri Tigers.
The Aggies (26-8, 13-5) received an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament after falling to San Diego State in the Mountain West championship game.
𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 🕺
Let's go to work ➡️ The Aggies will take on Missouri, Thursday, March 16!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/q3zIrxidtt
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 12, 2023
Squarely on the tournament bubble entering the Mountain West Championships, Utah State beat New Mexico in a wire-to-wire quarterfinal victory to bolster their resume. Less than 24 hours later, the Aggies overcame a difficult Boise State team for a 72-62 win. USU suffered their third loss of the year against No. 20 San Diego State in the MW final, falling 62-57.
RELATED: Utah State Receives At-Large Bid To Men’s NCAA Tournament
In the tournament for the 11th time since the turn of the century, Utah State looks to break a nine-game losing streak in the prestigious postseason tournament. As a 12-seed, USU needed overtime to beat 5-seed Ohio State 77-68 in 2001.
They enter the tournament as a 10-seed and will face 7-seed Missouri in the round of 64.
Missouri Tigers (24-9, 11-7) 4th in SEC
Missouri enters the NCAA tournament for the 28th time as a program and the first time since 2021. Their number seven seed is the program’s highest in 11 seasons. The Tigers won their final four games of the regular season to finish fourth in the SEC, behind Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Alabama.
RELATED: Instant Replay: Utah State’s Steven Ashworth Scores 1,000th Career Point
Missouri was eliminated from the SEC Tournament by then No. 4 Alabama following a 79-71 first-round win over then No. 17 Tennessee. They enter the NCAA tournament ranked as the No. 23 team in the AP Poll. USU received 15 votes in the poll.
Trending ⬆️ as we head to the NCAA Tournament!#MIZ 🐯📈 pic.twitter.com/DvI7lwUYY9
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) March 13, 2023
The Tigers are 22-28 all-time in NCAA tournament games but have dropped six straight, including five consecutive opening-round losses. As a two-seed in 2012, Missouri suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of No. 15 Norfolk State. Their last tournament win came against Clemson in the 2010 first round.
Missouri was second in the SEC, behind only Alabama, scoring 79.5 points per game this season. Defensively, the Tigers allowed 74.6ppg. Comparatively, the Aggies scored 78.6ppg while giving up 69.7ppg. As a team, Mizzou shoots 47.3 percent from the field and they have eight regulars that connect at a 43 percent or better rate.
New: Missouri’s Dennis Gates was voted USA Today Network’s SEC coach of the year after leading @MizzouHoops to 23 wins in his first regular season. Also, Kobe Brown was voted first team All-SEC.
Story and full list of winners ⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/D0QnXYDsqR
— Matt Stahl (@mattstahl97) March 6, 2023
USA Today’s SEC Coach of the Year Dennis Gates leads a Tigers attack that is spearheaded by All-SEC first-teamer, 6’8 senior Kobe Brown. Brown led Mizzou, averaging 15.8 points per contest. He comes into the tournament shooting 55.2 percent (182-of-330) from the field and 44.7 percent (46-of-103) from deep while also leading the team with 6.3 rebounds per game.
RELATED: Mountain West Regular Season Honors Announced, Steven Ashworth Named To First-Team
6’4 graduate senior D’Moi Hodge was second behind brown, averaging 14.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Hodge was named to the All-SEC Tournament Team after scoring 47 points across two games to lead the Tigers. DeAndre Gholston rounds out Missouri’s double-digit scorers, averaging 10.7 points per game.
Where to watch No. 10 Utah State vs. No. 7 Missouri
The Aggies and Missouri Tigers are scheduled for an 11:40 a.m. (MT) tip at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA on Thursday, March 16. This game will be broadcast on TNT.
The winner of this game will face either the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats or the No. 15 Princeton Tigers on Saturday, March 18.
🚨 Tip-Off Time 🚨
🆚 Missouri
⌚️ 11:40 AM MT
📍 Sacramento, CA
➡️https://t.co/IhTNEuwmb8#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/Fsixi1leEz— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 13, 2023
Every Utah State basketball game can be heard on the KSL Sports Zone with Scott Garrard on the call.
KSL Sports coverage of Utah State University Athletics can be found here.
