The Missouri Tigers are set to make their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2003 when the Big 12 Champs and 3rd seeded Tigers take on Ivy League Champ Cornell.  Listen to Mike Anderson and the Tigers from Thursday afternoon’s press conference.

Tip-off on Friday is set for 2pm.  This is Mizzou’s second trip to Boise.  I don’t need to remind you or senior guard Matt Lawrence about the last trip to Idaho.  In particular the final 4.8 seconds against UCLA.  Lawrence said he is constantly reminded of that game.

As a primer to the game, I found some cool stats on mutigers.com .

Missouri is 1-1 all-time vs. #14 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and is 2-2 all-time as the #3 seed.  Mizzou went 2-1 in ’89 and lost their first game in ’90.  Missouri defeated #14 Creighton (85-69) in the first round in 1989 and then topped #11 seeded Texas 108-89 before falling to #2-seeded Syracuse (83-80).   #3 MU fell to #14 Northern Iowa (74-71) in the first round in 1990.

The only Tiger with NCAA tourney experience is Mike Anderson Jr. who played twice at UAB.  Anderson is familiar with Boise, having coached theree their in 2005 when the Blazers beat LSU.

The Tigers will play in the NCAA tournament for the 22nd time in school history.   Mizzou has improved by a school-record tying 12 games from last season’s 16-16 record. The 12-win improvement equals Norm Stewart’s 1979-80 squad that won 25 games.

If the Tigers can win on Friday, they will reach 30 wins for the first time in school history. 

Download/listen to Missouri press conference clips