Final: Miami 80 – Mizzou 66
Mizzou wins the tip and we’re underway in St. Louis.Both sides are off to a slow offensive start, shooting a combined 3-of-13 from the field, and the Tigers have committed three early turnovers. Miami leads 5-2 at the U16 timeout after a three-pointer by Tre Donaldson.MU has struggled to find its shot from beyond the arc, starting out the game 1-for-7 from deep, but Jayden Stone provided some hope of a turnaround shortly before the U12 timeout with a triple to cut the Tigers’ deficit to two. Anthony Robinson II was the first player off the bench for Mizzou and has provided the team with a boost in place of T.O. Barrett these last few minutes.Jayden Stone just picked up his second personal foul halfway through the opening 20 minutes. Miami leads 18-12 with 9:44 left in the first half.The Hurricanes are getting some good looks from beyond the arc right now, and they’ve taken advantage with four made three-pointers. Miami’s also established the upper hand on the boards, grabbing 17 rebounds compared to nine for Mizzou, and leads 21-17 at the U8 timeout.The biggest advantage so far tonight for Miami has not just been rebounding, but specifically offensive rebounding. 11 of the Hurricanes’ 24 boards have been on the offensive end, and that’s translated to 12 second-chance points. MU trails 24-17 with 4:32 left in the first half.Miami calls its first timeout after Mizzou scores four unanswered points to cut its deficit to six with 1:42 remaining in the opening half. This crowd is doing everything it can to will the Tigers back into the game, including a chorus of MIZ-ZOU chants during the break.Mizzou has cut its deficit all the way down to one after a huge three-pointer by Robinson with 47.1 seconds to go in the half, 27-26. The Tigers are on a 9-0 run over the last two minutes and seven seconds.MU enters halftime trailing 27-26 after a Trent Burns hook shot at the buzzer rimmed out. It wasn’t a pretty first half for the Tigers, but they’ve gotten themselves back into the game with a strong effort in the final minutes before the break.Miami gets the ball coming out of the half. Let’s see if the Tigers can survive and advance to Sunday.Shawn Phillips Jr. picked up his third personal foul with 18:22 remaining and MU trailing 31-30. The Enterprise Center is less than pleased with the call.Maybe the clearest example of this crowd’s impact tonight: free throw shooting. Mizzou is a perfect 6-for-6 from the line while the Hurricanes are just 4-of-12. Speaking of free throws, Stone is headed to the line coming out of the U16 timeout as the Tigers trail 37-32.Stone is rolling right now. He leads the Tigers with 18 points, including a 3-of-6 mark from beyond the arc, and five rebounds. Mizzou continues to keep this one close, and it’s 46-43 at the U12 timeout.Dennis Gates calls timeout after a triple by Noam Dovrat puts the Hurricanes back up by six with 10:13 to go. The Tigers are staying in the hunt, but Miami seems to have a response at the ready every time Mizzou comes close to taking the lead.Trent Pierce gives Mizzou the lead with 9:15 remaining, 51-49. The Tigers are on an 8-0 run over the last 47 seconds, and the Enterprise Center crowd has risen to its feet.Miami calls timeout after Mark Mitchell hits a big three-pointer, another instance where Mitchell’s shooting percentage from beyond the arc seems to rise dramatically in huge moments. The Tigers lead 54-52 with 7:39 left here in St. Louis.And again, the Hurricanes respond. Miami takes back the lead, 59-54, with seven unanswered points to force a Mizzou timeout with 6:04 remaining.Miami extended its run to 11-0 before a three-pointer by Mark Mitchell broke MU’s scoring drought. The Tigers trail 63-57 with 3:40 left, and they’ll need a stretch of play similar to the one they had in the final minutes of the first half to close the gap.Tre Donaldson hits a clutch three to extend Miami’s lead to double-digits, 74-62, with 1:29 to go. The Hurricanes got the late push they needed and hold a comfortable advantage heading into the final 89 seconds.For the second straight year, Mizzou’s NCAA Tournament run ends in the first round as the Tigers fall to Miami, 80-66. MU closes out the 2025-26 season on a sour note with four straight losses and finishes the year with a record of 20-13.Mizzou sticks with its regular starting five of T.O. Barrett, Jayden Stone, Trent Pierce, Mark Mitchell and Shawn Phillips Jr. against Miami.The Hurricanes will start Tre Donaldson, Dante Allen, Shelton Henderson, Malik Reneau and Ernest Udeh Jr.The fans at the Enterprise Center just let out a big roar when Mizzou returned to the court and then started an MIZ-ZOU chant. Not that this is breaking news, by any means, but it should be a friendly crowd for the Tigers tonight.
Where | Enterprise Center; St. Louis, Mo.
Radio | Tiger Radio Network
ESPN win probability | 45.2% chance