SIGH.

Y’all... I’m nervous. After today’s loss (more on that in a sec), there are no games left for the committee to evaluate, and I’m worried they aren’t going to do the right intelligent thing and put the Tigers in the field. Charlie Creme’s latest projections (updated Monday, 3/1) still have Missouri as a 10-seed and one of the last four in (the top one, if that matters), despite beating then-top 15 ranked Florida on Sunday. I’d like to believe the committee will value that win more than Creme did. Please?!?

Anyway, so back to the game today, which is the reason reason why I’m anxious.

The Tigers giveth and the Tigers taketh away. What was a highly entertaining fourth quarter turned into ... well, not so much entertainment, as the Arkansas Razorbacks were able to dominate overtime and finish off the Tigers, 61-52 in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Neither team shot it well, and that is even an understatement. Mizzou was 29.9% from the field and 26.3% from three (they made 5-19) and Arkansas was 27.3 % from the field and 36.4% from three (they made 8-22). That’s... not great.

Maybe the Tigers were playing on borrowed time to begin with. On the broadcast, they mentioned the Tigers experiencing some travel delays, causing them to actually miss their assigned practice time at Bridgestone Arena. Meaning, their first time on the court in 24 hours was during pre-game. And, if we are to go by what Coach P said in the postgame, this also accounted for why Aijha Blackwell didn’t play much. From Lila Bromberg:

Lauren will, of course, get into the nitty-gritty in their takeaways, but from what I saw/heard as I was working (the second half, plus OT), Haley Troup had a helluva game, scoring 21 points (3 threes) and LaDazhia Williams (hopefully not playing her last game in a Tiger uniform), who had 14 points on 6-11 shooting to go with 13 rebounds. The Tigers needed it, as they got limited offensive production from the Splash Sisters, Hayley Frank (5 points on 2-8 shooting and 1-3 from three) and Lauren Hansen (5 points on 1-8 shooting and 1-3 from three), as well as Aijha Blackwell, (ALSO 5 points on 2-5 shooting and 0-2 from three) in her limited minutes.

Now.... to something happier!

THEY’RE HOME! And, if you’re able to leave work at a reasonable-ish/early hours, THE BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL DIAMONDS WILL BE ROCKING.

At 4pm tomorrow — coincidentally when I get off work at my wonderful new job— softball takes on the University of St. Thomas at Mizzou Softball Stadium. And don’t forget to read my preview this morning.

And at 6pm, baseball takes the field against Tarleton State over at Taylor Stadium.

ON TO THE LINKS! GO TIGERS!

We’ve got Men’s Hoops, Wrestling, Softball, Baseball, and Gymnastics all on tap this weekend!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Aaron continued his “One Returner and One Newcomer” series, this time focusing on the defensive line.
• Lauren previewed the Arkansas SEC Tourney matchup, and then also ran the Live Game Thread along with it.
• With the Big XII wrestling tourney kicking off Saturday, James enlightened us all about postseason scoring.

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More Links:

Football

• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dave Matter wrote, With Burden on board, reloaded Mizzou wideouts have new look, new coach, while Laurie Skrivan wrote, Take a look at the Missouri wide receivers.
• And if you’re a St. Louis Post-Dispatch subscriber, you can access: Mizzou can’t make QB decision out of fear by Dave Matter. You can also read his weekly chat… if you dare.
• The Missourian’s Jack Soble wrote an NFL Combine Preview: Lifelong underdogs Badie, Evans have another chance to stand out
• PowerMizzou started another new NIL-sponsored show for a football player! Be sure to check out The Touchdown Luther Burden Show! Mitchell Forde wrote, Davis teams up with former coach to lead DL.
• Another spring practice means another group of newbies earning their numbers!

• Here’s RS-Fr Tommy Lock, Drew’s cousin, looking good at football practice.

Hoops

• Women’s Recaps: Stifling defense not enough for Missouri in third matchup against Arkansas (Nate Marcus, Missourian). Mizzou Women’s Basketball out of SEC Tournament after overtime loss to Arkansas (Lila Bromberg, KC Star). Tigers Drop OT Heartbreaker To Arkansas In SEC Tournament (MUTigers.com). ‘We deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament’: Mizzou women fall in SEC Tournament, await postseason verdict (Chris Kwiecinski, Columbia Tribune). Tiger women lose SEC tourney opener, now they have to wait (Gabe DeArmond, PowerMizzou). Arkansas outlasts Mizzou in OT of SEC Tourney (Dave Matter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
• Ahead of the NCAA Tournament, Shannon Mia Belt examined the highs and lows of the women’s basketball season.
• Well, they kinda understood the assignment... Vandy lost to no.23 Florida 53-52, but a game that close may move them up a bit (they were no. 78 as of Weds). Kentucky, on the other hand, blew out Mississippi State, 83-67. MSU, in case you’ve been keeping track of Bracketology, was on Creme’s “first four out” list, and we did not want them to vault the Tigers.

• The Missourian’s Anthony Kristensen previewed men’s hoops’ final regular season game against Georgia.

Diamond Sports

• In a really (really) great article for Softball America, Nicole Reitz wrote about Brooke Wilmes soaking up every moment of her fifth year. And while you’re visiting their lovely site, also read this September profile on Jenna Laird!
• The Missourian’s Chris Blake previewed Missouri Softball’s weekend crop of games and you can also check out the MUTigers.com preview.
• In a fun piece for the Trib, Chris Kwiecinksi wrote some facts about Mizzou’s starters and shared their walk up songs for the season. [Reminder: support local journalism. Chris is good people.]
• Read Tanner Ludwig’s preview for Bieser Ball and the MUTigers.com preview while you’re at it.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Two Missouri track and field competitors — seniors Olivia Evans and Anna Sullentrup — were named to the Mizzou ‘39 on Wednesday, according to Kenny Van Doren and Nick Noll from the Missourian.
• Also congrats to swimmer Sarah Thompson, also selected to the Mizzou ‘39!

• The No. 11 gymnastics team is in Athens, Georgia this evening for their final regular season competition. Things get kicked off at 5pm on the SEC Network+. Mizzou split the series with UGA in 2021, losing the first meet, and winning the second by a 6/10th of a point.

Mizzou in the Pros

• Quin Snyder and Jordan Clarkson’s beat the Rockets in OT on Wednesday, 132-127. In JC’s 25 minutes off the bench, he had 14 points on 5-10 shooting (2-7 from three) with 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 3 TO, and 1 PF. He was +8 on the night. NEXT UP: The Jazz takes on the Pelicans tonight at 7pm.
• Hey Quin, congrats!!! Western Conference Coach of the Month!

• Tilly and the Magic took on the Grand Rapids Gold on Wednesday and lost, 124-119. In his 26 minutes off the bench, JT had 8 points on 4-8 shooting, with 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 TO, and 3PF. He was -7 on the night.

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