NCAA Basketball: Kansas and Baylor rise, Tennessee falls in latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
22. Missouri (19-6)
When Dennis Gates was hired, the Tigers were hoping for a bounce back into relevance, but their work this season has certainly exceeded national expectations. The Tigers have been a fringe Top 25 team for a lot of this season and get themselves back into the national focus with their performance this past week. In all reality, it was a horrible week for Missouri’s defense, but surreal offensive performances more than made up for it.
The week began with a home win over South Carolina, an 83-74 victory against a struggling Gamecocks program. Kobe Brown had 19 points and 8 rebounds to lead the way while the Tigers shot 51% from the field and 48% from beyond the arc. Saturday was a dream come true as Missouri secured an 86-85 road win over #6 Tennessee, spearheaded by DeAndre Gholston’s 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Tigers shot nearly 53% from the field against the nation’s best defense, including 14 of 26 from the 3, and with Brown’s 21 points leading the charge.
When you look at the analytics, Missouri just played their two worst defensive games of the season, so that’s certainly cause for concern. However, this offense has been explosive in recent weeks and this team is trending toward a quietly dangerous tournament squad. While the Tigers do have a relatively quiet final stretch to end the season, next week is still a major challenge: a road trip to Auburn and a home date against Texas A&M, who beat them by 18 points last month.