If Missouri is well on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble, as all of the various bracket projections proclaim, then defeating the No. 1 team in the nation might be a good way to burst into the bracket.
Missouri beat Texas A&M on Thursday to set up a rematch with top-ranked Florida in the quarterfinals Friday. The Tigers lost 68-58 at Florida on Feb. 4 after leading at halftime and trailing by three with less than eight minutes to play.
The Gators (29-2) are the first team to go 18-0 in the SEC and haven’t lost since Dec. 2.
“It’s a good opportunity,” Missouri guard Jabari Brown said. “They are the No. 1 team. They had a real good regular season. But it’s the postseason now, and it’s a whole new season. We are looking forward to it.”
Missouri (22-10) entered the SEC tournament with three losses in its past five games, including a 72-45 defeat at Tennessee on Saturday. The Tigers needed two overtimes to get past Texas A&M (17-15) and keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.
Missouri’s best non-conference victories came against West Virginia and UCLA. The Tigers beat Arkansas twice in SEC play, but those victories lost some luster when the Razorbacks lost to South Carolina on Thursday.
Missouri coach Frank Haith was asked if he addressed his team’s NCAA tournament chances.
“We have a great opportunity to play the No. 1 team in country tomorrow, and we are excited about it,” Haith said.
Bubble bursting: ESPN's Joe Lunardi projected Arkansas to be one of the last four teams in the NCAA tournament bracket. That was before the Razorbacks lost to South Carolina, which finished next-to-last in the SEC.
Now Arkansas will have to watch the tournament selection show Sunday and hope a resume that includes two victories over Kentucky is enough.
“I’m hoping for the NCAA, but right now I don’t know,” Coty Clarke said.
'Tweak' time: Finally everyone will get to see the mysterious "tweak" that Kentucky coach John Calipari said has his team swaggering again.
Kentucky (22-9) opens the SEC tournament against LSU on Friday after losing three of its last four games in the regular season. Calipari told media members this week that he made some changes that will get the Wildcats on track.
Calipari and his players wouldn’t give any details about the changes, but noted that practices have been more physical. Calipari said the difference in the Wildcats will be obvious when they take the court for the tournament.
“All I can tell you is there was a different feel in the building,” Calipari told reporters in Lexington this week. “It was not just the tweaking of what we did. It was the physical play (that) brought something out of them that I wanted to see.”
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