Sweet 16 Simulation - Missouri Tigers vs. Memphis Tigers

Missouri Tigers vs. Memphis Tigers 9:30 ET

Sports betting for the NCAA Tournament is almost finished, and there are only 15 games left in the season! On Thursday night, two packs of Tigers will do battle for the right to move on to the West Bracket final when the #3 Missouri Tigers (30-6, 19-10 ATS) do battle with the #2 Memphis Tigers (33-3, 23-12 ATS). Both teams have had one battle and one easy victory in this tournament. Memphis coasted past Maryland after struggling with CS-Northridge, while Missouri won a hard-fought battle with Marquette after easily disposing of Cornell. Plenty of defensive pressure can be expected in this one, so let’s see how it turned out!

1st Half

Both teams came right out of the gates trying to full-court press. There seemed to be some jitters at the start, as neither team shot the ball well in the opening four minutes. At the under 16:00 TO, Memphis led 6-3 in a game where there were more turnovers (10) than points (9).

Things started to settle down over the next six minutes or so. Memphis PG Antonio Anderson was dropping dimes all over the court, setting up G Tyreke Evans for a pair of easy lay-ups and F Robert Dozier for a triple to spark a quick 7-0 run to give the Tigers in white a 13-3 lead. Missouri wouldn’t be denied though, as forward’s Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll started hitting shots in the post to get the Tigers in black back within four halfway through the opening stanza.

As the battle wore on in the first half, fouls became a huge issue. Evans sat down with his third foul with 4:30 to go in the first half, while F Shawn Taggert and Dozier both had two fouls at the intermission. The situation was no better for Missouri, as G JT Tiller, G Zaire Taylor, and Lyons all had a pair of fouls as well. Free throw shooting was key, as Memphis missed seven foul shots in the first half, while Missouri kept in the game by shooting 11/12 from the charity stripe.

Memphis was up by four points with the ball for the final possession of the half, but after Anderson missed a long shot with just a few seconds to go, Lyons picked up the rebound and threw up a prayer that was answered right at the buzzer. Memphis led Missouri 32-31 at halftime, but big mo was clearly with the Tigers in black.

2nd Half

HC John Calipari decided to put all of his players in foul trouble on the court to start the second half, and it promptly came back to bite him. On Missouri’s first possession, Taylor pump faked from long range, getting Evans in the air. The Mizzou guard jumped straight into the freshman, earning three free throws, but more importantly, putting Memphis’ superstar back on the bench with his fourth foul.

The two teams continued to battle back and forth for the majority of the second half. Tiller, the worst three-point shooter on Missouri during the regular season (22.6%) was nailing triples left and right, but for every big shot he hit, either Taggert or Dozier had the answer. Neither team led by more than six points the entire second half, and with just under 7:00 to go, Missouri led 55-53.