We’ve made it to the NCAA Tournament, which the No. 6-seeded Missouri Tigers (22-11) are back in after a one-year hiatus as they are set to take on the No. 11-seeded Drake Bulldogs (30-3) at 6:35 p.m. tonight (TruTV) in Wichita.
The winner of tonight’s game will face the winner of No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 14 UNC-Wilmington at a too-be-determined time on Saturday. The Red Raiders and Seahawks will be the final game at the Wichita site tonight following the conclusion of the Missouri matchup.
Here is a scouting report, some Mizzou notes, matchups to watch and what I think will lead to a Tiger win.
Scouting report
Drake enters the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and eighth total appearance after winning Arch Madness (the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament played in St. Louis) with a 63-48 win against Bradley.
The Bulldogs enter on a seven-game winning streak and having won 18 of their past 19 games.
Drake started the season 12-0 with wins against Miami, Florida Atlantic and Vanderbilt on the way to winning the Charleston Classic, and beat Kansas State 73-70 in OT in the Wildcat Classic on Dec. 17.
After winning their first Valley Conference game, Drake dropped two in a row against UIC and Murray State, then started their 18-of-19 stretch with the lone loss coming to Bradley 61-59 at home on Feb. 16.
Drake is the slowest-moving teams in college basketball averaging just 61.9 possessions per game, compared to Missouri’s 71.7 for 106th in the country (Alabama leads the NCAA at 78.8 per game).
The Bulldogs average 70.1 points per game and allow only 58.4, which makes the Bulldogs the best scoring defense in the country, leading second-place Houston which sits at 58.5. That number is helped by the slow tempo because Drake allows opponents to shoot 44.2 percent from the field, 31.0 percent from 3 (on 5.6 deep makes per game) and 72.2 percent from the free-throw line (on 11.6 made free-throws per contest).
Drake shoots 48.1 percent overall, 35.5 percent from 3 (on 6.6 makes per game) and you 70.5 percent from the free-throw line (on 15.1 made free-throws per game).
Though Drake is a remarkably short team - no player on roster is listed as taller than 6-foot-8 - the Bulldogs average a 31.0-25.1 per-game advantage in the rebounding battle.
They also force 13.8 turnovers per game and score 16.2 points off those opportunities, while giving the ball up just 11.2 times per contest.
Drake has seven players from Missouri, two from Illinois and two from kansas on its roster, largely built by head coach Ben McCollum bringing a number of players with him from Northwest Missouri State after taking the helm of the Bulldog program before this season.
Junior guard Bennett Stirtz (6-4, 180) - from Liberty - leads the way for Drake at 19.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.15 steals per game.
Graduate forward Daniel Abreu (6-6, 220) - from Springfield - is the only other Bulldog averaging double-digit points at 10.4 to go with 3.3 rebounds per game and 23 blocks this season.
Junior forward Tavion Banks (6-7, 200) - from Kansas City - adds 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game off the bench, while graduate guard Mitch Mascari (6-5, 200) adds 9.8 points per game. Sophomore forward Cam Manyawu (6-8, 230) - from Kansas City - leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.
Graduate guard Isaiah Jackson (6-3, 180) - from Independence - rounds out the starting lineup, while freshman guard Isaia Howard (6-5, 200) - from Plattsburg - sophomore guard Kael Combs (6-4, 190) - from Nixa - and senior forward Nate Ferguson (6-8, 220) round out the regular rotation.
Missouri holds a 27-7 lead in the all-time series, which was regularly played from 1946-through-1953 and from 1917-through-1929.
Missouri has won the past four matchups, but the teams have not faced off since Dec. 9, 1987 when Missouri won 76-74 on the road at Des Moines.
Mizzou notes
- At the No. 6 seed, the Tigers have their highest seed in 13 years since being a No. 2 seed in 2012.
- Missouri's Dennis Gates and Drake's McCollum are two of the 10 semifinalists for Coach of the Year
- Mizzou has played 22 games against teams in the NCAA Tournament field. Drake has played one.
- Missouri has scored 80 points in 10 consecutive games. Drake has allowed 80 points once this season.
- There will be 15 players in today's game from kansas or its bordering states. Mizzou has four kansas-born players, while Drake has two. Drake has seven native Missourians and the Tigers have two Oklahomans.
Matchups
The paint
The biggest and most important in my mind is how the Tigers handle the paint. Missouri has a massive size advantage and have been going up against teams where even the shorter post players were an extra 15-20 pounds heavier than anyone on the Bulldog roster.
The Tigers should be able to cruise to points in the paint and a rebounding win, unless they retreat to how they played against Vanderbilt, which also doesn’t have a regular taller than 6-8.
Speed of play
This is the next most important. Which team dictates the pace?
Missouri wants to move fast, but playing a seven-second offense every possession while your opponent is running off 26 or more seconds every time down the floor can get very tiring.
So will the Tigers be able to speed up the Bulldogs into a pace they’re not comfortable with, or vice versa with Drake slowing Missouri down to its pace?
Bennett Stirtz and Mitch Mascari vs. the bench
This is just one I’m interested in keeping an eye on.
Those two lead the country in minutes played per game. Stirtz plays almost 39:30 per contest and Miscari plates about 38:20.
They’re going to be on the floor A LOT. If the Tigers can get those two out of rhythm or even into some foul trouble, it will be a major benefit.
What I'm looking for
Don’t let Drake dictate the game.
Speed of play, defensive strategy, offensive strategy, anything. Don’t play down to a team that hasn’t played a Quad 1 game since December.
Missouri has gone up against the best teams in the country throughout the past three months, use that experience to run through a team that’s best opponent was early-season Vanderbilt.
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