Live Thread: Missouri Tigers vs. Long Beach State 49ers

IT’S THANKSGIVING! For many red-blooded Americans Thanksgiving means football. For me, it means neutral court tournament college basketball! And today the Missouri Tigers open the action in the Advocare Invitational against the 49ers of Long Beach State.

You may remember the 49ers head coach Dan Monson as the man who started the monster of what is now Gonzaga Basketball. After Gonzaga he had some mediocre years in Minnesota before getting fired and taking the job at Long Beach State. Since then the 49ers have been one of the better teams in the Big West Conference.

Long Beach is 2-2 right now with wins over San Francisco and San Francisco State, and losses to Oregon State (a potential second round opponent) and West Virginia.

We didn’t write a preview for this game because there’s been some other things going on, but here’s a quick and dirty one:

Long Beach isn’t great on offense but they are pretty good defensively. The good news is they don’t partially force a lot of turnovers which Mizzou is bad at. Hopefully the Tigers don’t shoot awfully as they’ve done over the last few games because if they do this will be another tough game. But if they can make some shots and loosen up the interior for Porter, Tilmon and Puryear they should be moving on with ease.

If you didn’t notice the news the other day, Read up!

• Michael Porter Jr underwent back surgery, likely ending his season
• MPJ is a Mizzou Legend, even if his career only lasted 2 minutes
• The Case for Blake Harris to start
• DIVE CUTS PODCAST (you haven’t listened yet?)
• Emporia State Study Hall, a very ugly win

The Details

Opponent: Long Beach State 49ers (2-2)

Time: 10:30 a.m. CT

Where: HP Fieldhouse, Kissemmee, FL

IS MIZZOU RECEIVING TOP 25 VOTES? No. No, they are not.

WHAT DOES VEGAS SAY? Mizzou -11, O/U 144

WHAT DOES KenPom SAY? Mizzou 79 - 69

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN:

• TV: ESPN2, Mike Morgan, Tim Welsh, Greg Pike
• Radio: Tiger Radio Network // Sirius/XM -119/199

Twitter: @MizzouHoops

Facebook: Mizzou Men’s Basketball

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Five Questions

1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?
2. What time do you normally eat Thanksgiving?
3. Who wins the Oregon State-St. Johns matchup?
4. Predict the final score?
5. Who is your trifecta?