Mizzou seeking first NCAA Tournament win since 2010

SACRAMENTO, Kan. (KCTV) - The Mizzou men’s hoops squad has a chance to accomplish something in Dennis Gates’ first season the program hasn’t done in 13 years.

A win over 10-seed Utah State tomorrow would mark the Tigers’ first NCAA Tournament win since 2010.

“Obviously this is a big deal,” Mizzou leading scorer Kobe Brown said. “It’s the biggest collegiate tournament of the year. We all made it here once. None of us made it out of the first round. So that’s our biggest goal, to survive and advance.”

Mizzou enters the Big Dance as a 7-seed — the program’s highest position since 2012.

ESPN Analytics gives the underdog Aggies a 60.1 percent of winning.

“I think they have some individual players that make the plays that need to be made,” Gates said. “You can go across the board. They have five players in double digits. That’s not an easy stat line to consistently have.”

Utah State (26-8) ranks fifth in the nation in shooting from beyond the arc, hitting just under a 40 percent clip.

Five players average 10 points or more, led by Steven Ashworth (16.3).

“We were all blessed with the opportunity to play here,” Honor said. “We all haven’t won a game here yet, but I mean at the end of the day, it’s just basketball. We’re excited for the opportunity at hand, just going to take it one game at a time.”

Mizzou tips off in Sacramento at 12:40 p.m. Thursday on TNT.