As the clock wound down Wednesday night against Texas A&M, the Mizzou men’s basketball team celebrated.
Yes, the win over one of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference was one to boast about in and of itself, but the implications of the win as March looms over its shoulder was another reason to celebrate.
Mizzou has been riding on the slippery slope of the bubble, but things changed with its win over the Aggies, its second consecutive road win and third straight victory for the first time in conference play this season. The Tigers, for now, seem to have tamed the road blues that hit them earlier this season against Ole Miss, LSU and Alabama.
Now, with better positioning on the bubble, they head back to Mizzou Arena to take on Texas in a Valentine’s Day special. The sold-out game starts at 7:30 p.m., the time that will make or break Mizzou’s recent success.
Texas sits in a similar position to Mizzou. The Longhorns have three wins and three losses in Quad 1 conference play. They have defeated Alabama, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, but have fallen to Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee. Token wins over then-ranked Alabama and Vanderbilt in addition to other non-conference Quad 1 wins have them projected to be one of the Last Four In, having to face off in the First Four games, potentially.
Mizzou has some token Quad 1 wins in conference as well, including its most recent win over A&M, but sits in the First Four Out projection according to ESPN bracketologists. The Tigers will have the opportunity to possibly tackle two opponents in the course of a week who rank higher than them in the current bracketology.
Missouri will specifically have to watch out for junior guard Dailyn Swain. Swain is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Longhorns, averaging 17.3 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. Next in line is 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis, who is grabbing 6.8 boards per game and averaging 15.3 ppg. Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope are also scoring in double figures, averaging 13.4 and 12.5 ppg, respectively.
Senior Mark Mitchell continues to lead the Tigers in scoring, averaging 17.2 ppg. He also leads in rebounds with 5.7 rpg, while center Shawn Phillips Jr. sits right behind him with 5.3 and graduate Jayden Stone with five. Stone is also averaging double-digit figures in scoring, the second-highest producer for the Tigers. He is averaging 14.8 ppg while fellow sharpshooters Jacob Crews and Trent Pierce sit behind with 10.5 and 10.2, respectively.
The Tigers look to pick up their fourth consecutive win this weekend over Texas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
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