Elite 8 Analysis - UConn vs. Missouri Breakdown

The NCAA Tournament has been exciting so far as we head toward the Final Four in Detroit, but it hasn’t seen a whole lot of upsets despite that excitement.

The team that people least expected to make it to the Elite 8 might very well be the Missouri Tigers, an unheralded, athletic bunch that plays a frenetic pace and likes to press and create turnovers.

The Tigers will now have their hands full against a Connecticut Huskies team that has been at or near the top of the polls for much of the season.

The BetUS Sportsbook has the Huskies listed as a 5 ½-point favorite in the matchup, which seems a bit small for a typical one-seed against a three-seed, especially an unknown one like the Tigers.

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While Missouri has done a great job controlling tempo and making its previous two big-time wins into helter-skelter contests that favor their style of play, doing it against UConn will be a different task altogether.

Missouri was fortunate to escape against a Marquette team playing with an ailing Dominic James at point guard due to a nagging foot injury and also against a Memphis team led by a true freshman in Tyreke Evans.

Connecticut point guard A.J. Price is one of the best pure points in the country and also one of the better ball-handlers in the nation, perfect for break the Missouri press.

Missouri stars like DeMarre Carroll and J.T. Tiller did a lot of their damage on plays going to the basket but all of that will be shut down but UConn’s big man Hasheem Thabeet, arguably the best shot-blocker in the country. Those blocks will frustrate Missouri and take them out of their shooting rhythm which will feed UConn’s transition game off the misses.

Missouri did well to make it this far but there comes a point in the tournament where the cream rises to the top and UConn is simply more talented overall at most positions than the Tigers right now not to mention more experienced.  After three games, the Tigers’ style is no longer a secret and a Hall-of-Fame coach like Jim Calhoun should have the Huskies ready for this one.

For those reasons, UConn is one of the best bets of the Elite 8 weekend to cover the spread.