Tigers set to take on Utah State in Round One of the NCAA Tournament

The No. 7 Missouri Tigers (24-9) will take on No. 10 Utah State (26-8) in the South Region on Thursday in Sarcamento, CA.

The winner of that game will take on the winner of the matchup between No. 2 Arizona (28-6) and No. 15 Princeton (20-8) on Saturday.

The Tigers and Aggies have met up twice in history, with them having split the two meetings in 1967 and 1968.

Utah State ranks No. 18 overall in KenPom’s metrics, and it has a strong résumé to boot. The Aggies have taken down Oral Roberts, Nevada and Boise State (twice), and they just made a run to the Mountain West Tournament title game before falling to one-seeded San Diego State.

They have succeeded behind a potent offensive attack. Utah States makes 38.5% of their 3-pointers, has a 55.6 effective field goal percentage and the nation’s 13th-best adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom.

Junior guard Steven Ashworth leads the way with 16.3 points per game, but he is one of five players that average double-figures for the Aggies. Senior forwards Taylor Funk and Dan Akin, junior guard Max Shulga and senior guard Sean Bairstow form the rest of a group that rarely comes off the floor. They all play 26 or more minutes for the Aggies.

Akin leads the way with 6.9 rebounds per game, and the London-native is a bruiser down low. Ashworth leads the team with 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game as well.

Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed in the South Region, with Baylor being the No. 3 seed and Virginia being the No. 4.

Let the madness begin.